Persona Non Grata
by Brave Soul RMS
Summary: You know what's cool about being a sociopath? Shooting yourself in the head with an imaginary bullet and summoning a superpowered imaginary friend to kick ass. Downside's that an army of living nightmares is out to end you. You tell me: is it worth it?
1. Welcome, young man, to the Velvet Room

**Persona Non Grata**

**By: **Brave Soul RMS

**Disclaimer: **Only two of the characters featured here (Grey Thomas and Juniper Hawthorne) are my own. The rest were loaned to me with the permission of their authors. The "Shin Megami Tensei: Persona" games are not my intellectual property, but are merely sources of inspiration. However, the plot, though inspired by SMT, is 100% my creation. You have my word about that.

**WARNING:** The following story contains elements under the official rating of M for Mature. This includes scenes of violence, scenes of gore, moderate cursing, alcohol use, possible drug use and sex, and other things of that nature.

It may also depict events that directly defy the laws of physics and/or nature and the main characters go above and beyond the normal limits of the human body. But this part's purely in the pursuit of awesome. What'd you expect? This is a Shin Megami Tensei fic.

However inane the above statement may be, the following actually holds some relevance. A message to the squeamish, prude, or easily-offended: You choose to read this of your own volition. You have been warned. And may God have mercy on your soul... Just kidding about that last part :D

* * *

**Chapter 000:** Welcome to the Velvet Room

Sleep held no comfort for the likes of Logan Martin. For others, it was a welcome getaway; a means through which they could forget the world and all their problems and just disappear quietly for a few hours. For Logan, sleep just served as a reminder that, when he awoke, his peace would be shattered and he'd be thrust back into the hell (at least to him) he was unlucky enough call his life. It was even worse when he dreamed.

Dreams, for normal people, were filled with comforting thoughts and though the contents of a dream may be a warped, swirling vortex of confusion and anarchy, the pleasant thoughts that could be pulled out of the mire and deciphered made sleep that much more enjoyable.

Again, this was not the case for Logan. It never was. He never expected it to ever be. His dreams would forever be haunted by his emotions and instability and the demons that slept in the darkest corners of his psyche, waiting for nightfall. For the most favorable time to strike and do as much damage as possible. The scary thing was that this all routine for Logan now. It'd become as predictable as the change of seasons.

But tonight, the devils didn't show themselves. Were they afraid, he dimly wondered as he floated around in nothingness. Maybe they'd just gotten bored with him. It's no fun picking on an unresponsive target, after all. No, that wasn't the case. They'd never willingly abandon their favorite toy.

Logan floated within the darkness of his mind for what seemed an eternity, never once questioning exactly why he was so aware when he was supposed to be asleep. There wasn't much to be aware of; just darkness on all sides and he was chillingly aware of that fact. Maybe that was why the demons weren't around?

Just then, a royal blue light flickered into existence within his nonexistent dreamscape. Logan tried to ignore it and force himself into a deeper level of unconsciousness but his efforts were in vain. The light started to move and Logan thought that it might be a fairy. Like that really annoying one from Legend of Zelda.

"Ignore it,"he mumbled to himself. But the light, whatever it was, was persistent. Now whenever it moved, there'd be a shrill tinny ring like the sound a single sleigh bell made. That got Logan's attention. He flippantly whirled around, weightless within the confines of his thoughts, and glared at the light.

"What do you want? Go away, I'm trying to sleep!" he barked at it, getting angrier with each word. The light slowly started to grow in response. Then Logan corrected himself. It wasn't growing, it was getting closer. He scowled.

"_You… What is it you truly desire…?"_ The voice was not his own and sounded like it belonged to that of a wise old sage out of a fairy tale. _"Answer,"_ it coaxed when Logan said nothing.

"I _want_ for you to leave me alone and go away," Logan growled. The light was suddenly blinding him now and he felt something land on his nose. He swatted it away and rubbed out his eyes to see a tiny blue butterfly standing but six inches from his nose, flapping its wings lazily. The light was coming from this pest, Logan realized. The butterfly started to fly circles around him.

"_Would you like to be rid of this curse? Of this darkness? Of this solitude…?"_ the voice asked mysteriously.

"Now you echo. Yay," Logan quipped dryly. "I already said what I wanted. Now grant my wish, you stupid bug or genie whatever you are." The voice was silent for a moment and the butterfly continued to orbit the irritated Logan.

"_Logan Martin."_

"Yes, Mother?"

"_You hold within you a great power. An endless potential that can become anything you so desire."_

"Bullshit. If that were true, my life would be a lot different than it is now," Logan muttered darkly. "Where's this potential you're talking about?"

"_Within you. Within your true self,"_ the voice answered. Enigmatic responses be damned! Logan wanted solid answers!

"Look, I don't know what the hell you're talking about. I'm me. This is who I am. Disappointed, right?"A tortured, angry edge slipped into his words. "Wait, why am I even talking to you? All you are is a figment of my imagination. Just the meds making me trip balls again."

"_Logan Martin."_

"Stop saying my name!" Logan snarled.

"_You hold the key. You hold endless possibilities within your heart. I am here to deliver a message: your world is in great danger."_

"You expect me to believe that? This isn't some stupid video game!" Logan's shouts progressively grew louder. He took a breath to steady himself and continued, "Get outta my head, you stupid hallucination." The voice continued, unafraid of Logan's anger.

"_Your world is in danger and you are one of a handful of people who possess the power to stop this calamity. I leave you with an ultimatum: You have eighteen months to build up your bonds with others and amass enough strength or your world shall cease to be. Only through trust and understanding with others can this goal be reached. Fulfill your destiny, Logan Martin. Pursue your true self."_

"What does that mean?" Logan asked the voice. "I don't have any friends so I guess the world's just gonna die if it's counting on me."

"_Pursue your true self," _the voice repeated again. The butterfly made one last revolution around Logan and stopped a few inches from his face again. Then it disappeared as easy as it'd appeared, its light going with it, snuffed out like a candle.

* * *

MORNING: Martin Residence

* * *

In the real world, Logan awoke with a start. His eyes snapped open and bolted upright, surveying his bedroom. Dresser to the far right, door next to that, bedside table, lamp, windows closed and shuttered, and the television was on top of his armoire where it always was. Everything seemed normal. The pale blue light glowing from behind the shutters told Logan it was just about time to get up for school. He looked at the alarm clock on his bedside table. Six o'clock. He frowned.

"I _really _have to lay off the meds," Logan sighed to himself. He ran a hand through his messy mop of brown hair and forced himself out of bed to get ready. As he staggered groggily into the bathroom, he let out a truly monstrous yawn. Another day, another six hours at St. Yung Private High. The downside was that he had to get up at an ungodly hour of the day. And there was the little issue of almost every student and teacher there being a rich snob. The upside? Their uniform was the very epitome of badass. For clothes that cool, Logan would endure just about everything.

* * *

MORNING: St. Yung Private School

* * *

Since Logan wasn't a boarder at the school, he had to commute to the school. St. Yung was close-by so that wasn't really a problem at all and he could easily walk the distance. The real problem (one of many, really) was showing up to the school and being stared at like some kind of freak at a sideshow by damn near everybody in the courtyard. The title of 'school headcase' unfortunately came coupled with the disapproving, fearful, or apprehensive stares of the student body. Unsurprisingly, the life of a sociopath was not an easy one, but, an hour later, Logan stood in St. Yung's spacious and immaculately green courtyard dressed for the day.

"The sun isn't even awake yet," he noted sleepily. The sky was still stuck in the periwinkle limbo between early morning and late night. Quickly getting bored of the view, he looked down at his school uniform and allotted himself a small smile of satisfaction. Yep; still badass.

The school's uniform consisted of deep black bottoms that were a cross between slacks and jeans, a white dress shirt, red tie, and a jeans jacket the same color as the bottoms. The right half of the jacket was decorated with a black and white checkerboard pattern while the left half was unadorned except for a silver metal badge rimmed red pinned to the breast with the roman numeral for two carved into its surface. The jacket's zipper was polished to a shine and the collar was high enough to completely cover one's neck when buttoned shut. If it was worn the right way, Logan believed that the uniform could make _anybody _look like they'd just stepped out of a spy thriller.

Uniquely to St. Yung's, the students were allowed a certain degree of liberty when it came to their uniforms and many students had taken full advantage of this. Many made modifications to their uniforms, added accessories, or wore clothes they already owned. Logan was a member of the latter group, opting only to wear a simple black shirt under his jacket.

Logan stood next to one of the two giant fountains in the courtyard and looked around, face apathetic and his hands in his pockets. He knew a lot of the kids in the school and his parents had told him to pick out kids to avoid so as to reduce stress and confrontation. Logan was only all too happy. Scanning around once more, he laid eyes on a boy surrounded by a semicircle of girls, each one of them giggling like,

"High school girls," he said in distaste. Tittering herds of pubescent girls babbling on and on about the most meaningless things gave him a planet-sized headache. It was even worse when they abandoned all morals and threw themselves at guys like the one they'd ensnared in their unfinished circle.

The boy's name was Jett Mitchell, St. Yung's self-proclaimed 'hottest guy ever' and a member of Logan's year. A handsome boy in his own right, but, when he first came out with that bold declaration in the first year, Logan fought his damnedest to hold in his snort of laughter. For some reason, he was sought-after by every girl in the first and second years, several in the third, and even a handful of the cradle robbers - as Logan called them - in the fourth year. Needless to say, that didn't make him very popular amongst the male students but, lucky for him, Jett knew how to fight.

Jett flicked the bangs of his curly brown hair and said something to one of the girls in front of him. He cupped her chin in his hand and looked at her with an almost lustful glint in his green eyes and her entire face lit up like a beacon. Logan scoffed and turned his head away from the scene to look for others on his 'People to Avoid' list. His eyes landed on a pale girl sitting on one of the benches far off from everyone else, one leg crossed over the other and her nose buried in a book. She had pale skin and a purple headband in her dark brown hair.

"Henrietta Mackenzie," Logan said to nobody. Logan only had one or two encounters with Henrietta, at least to his memory. Their first was back in his first year and he'd been assigned to be her lab partner. Rejecting Logan's rather innocuous hello and introduction, Henrietta looked him dead in the face and told him to 'stay out of the way' because she didn't want him 'screwing up her carefully done incisions in the frog'. The look in her dull brown eyes practically went out and called Logan an idiot right then and there.

Henrietta must've noticed Logan looking at her because she looked up from her book and stared him in the face with that annoying emotionless look on her face. She looked away from him a second later and adjusted the red bow around her neck that was part of the female uniform before picking up her bag and walking towards the school.

"She's still as pleasant as ever," Logan deadpanned.

Logan kept up his search and only really found a handful of students out of about two-thousand to avoid. There was Jeremy Lynche, an upperclassman who really wasn't that bad on his own but the crowd he ran with sometimes gave Logan trouble. Then there was Emma Jacobs, a blonde girl from out in the country who was boarding at the school. How she made it to an expensive private academy like St. Yung, Logan would never know. Juniper Hawthorne, one of the only redheads in the entire student body, was a nice enough girl and never gave anybody trouble but she spoke so fast and with so many complicated words that Logan got a headache just thinking about her.

Floressa Roux, a girl with pixie-cut black hair who defied skirts by wearing bike shorts underneath, only had one classification in Logan's mind: she's hot. Really hot. The number one reason he avoided her was because he could bet his parents' car that he'd get grief from the rumors that would inevitably pop up, so that was a no-go. Grey Thomas was a pretty quiet kid in that he didn't really talk to anybody and got picked on because he smuggled a puppy into the dorms. It liked to bark a lot. Hanging out with him was a one-way ticket to more abuse but Logan remembered to talk to him if he ever wanted to modify his jacket.

The morning bell rang out with a strident eight-note tune, calling the students in for the start of classes. Sighs, groans, and random chatter filled the air like the buzzing of a beehive as the scattered students formed a river of solid black leading into St. Young's front entrance. Logan opted to hang back until the last few students were about to enter before heading towards the four-floor black fortress that was his high school. Instead of heading for his first period Mathematics room, he took a right and silently slipped into the door marked 'Dr. Murray, Ph.D.'. Unlike everyone else, Logan was allowed to skip his morning class every other day in favor of something more important.

Morning therapy sessions.

* * *

"And have you had any weird dreams lately?" Dr. Murray asked in a bored drone. The short, pasty, and balding sweater vest wearer didn't even look Logan in the eyes the entire time he'd been in the room and he was halfway though the therapy session. The good doctor just kept his head down and focused on his clipboard. Apparently the teachers were afraid of Logan too; even his own psychiatrist. Logan shot him a look of contempt and heaved a sigh before speaking.

"One from last night," he answered, almost as bored as Dr. Murray. "A pretty vivid one. I was floating."

"Floating?" Oh, so _now_ he was interested. "That's odd; most of your dreams have you either standing still or running. Elaborate." Logan smirked openly.

"Ask nicely," he goaded, obviously enjoying the agitated look on the man's face. "Come on, don't look like such a sour puss. Ask nicely and I'll tell you."

"Logan, you're being childish," the doctor reprimanded, his frown deepening. He pointed his pen at his patient and continued, "You know, I don't have to be here and help smarmy little brats like you. All I have to do all day is sit and wait until Thursday and I get paid either way -"

"And you get to go home to your beautiful trophy wife and kids, blah, blah, blah," Logan finished for him, his voice a rude drone. His eyes hardened into a glare. "Look, pal, I'm not exactly looking forward to seeing your face every other day first thing in the morning either. So just shut up and take notes." Dr. Murray's bushy moustache bristled in rage muttered something under his breath about enduring for the extra pay. Logan smirked victoriously and leaned back in his recliner.

"Like I said, I was floating and it was nothing around me but blackness. Like I was in an abyss or something. There was this weird blue light that popped out of nowhere after that and it turned out to be a glowing butterfly. Then a voice rang out - I think from the butterfly but I'm not sure - telling me about trust and friendship and saving the world or some shit like that." Logan shrugged. The dream was insignificant but it stuck in his mind a fresh memory nonetheless. "Maybe I've been playing too many video games?"

"Obviously," his psychiatrist said dryly.

"I dunno. It felt more to me that I was tripping balls in my sleep again thanks to those crazy meds you give me," Logan retorted in a falsely thoughtful tone. Dr. Murray's face scrunched up in indignation and Logan suppressed a laugh effortlessly.

"The medication does not induce hallucinations," he insisted. Logan's smirk grew when he heard the clearly annoyed bite in the doctor's words. "It's meant to control any chemical imbalances you may have so that you don't lash out. Considering that you're starting to act up again, I'd say it's time for another dose."

"Screw that," Logan said almost immediately. "Tastes like the crap you'd find at the school cafeteria." Dr. Murray took a few deep breaths to control his rising irritation and fixed Logan with a debilitating glare. It was the first look he'd given Logan in a half hour. Biting his tongue, Dr. Murray took a pocket watch out of the briefcase at his side and Logan groaned and fell back in the recliner.

"Not the hypnosis again. Does that even work in the first place?" he demanded, eyebrow raised skeptically.

"Logan, you -"

"Yeah, okay, fine, I know," the boy hurriedly submitted. He shifted into a more relaxed position and let his body's tension fade away. "Okay, go." Dr. Bill nodded and dangled the pocket watch over Logan's face, swinging it back and forth like a pendulum.

"Focus on the watch and try falling asleep," Dr. Murray instructed him. Biting back a growl, Logan went through the motions of hypnotherapy like he'd done countless times before. He cleared everything out of his mind and made sure to keep his eyes on the watch without moving them. Left, right… Left, right… Slowly, the ticking of the clock next to the bookshelf behind Dr. Murray ticked in synchrony with the swinging of the watch and Logan felt his eyelids get heavy. If any credit could be given to Dr. Murray, it was that he was one hell of a hypnotist.

Left…tick…right…tock…

Logan's vision started to blur. Incense candles were lit somewhere because their heavy perfume pressed down on Logan's senses, pushing him further into sleep.

"When I snap my fingers, you will fall asleep. And when you do, I want you to repeat to me what was said to and by you in the dream to the best of your ability," murmured Dr. Murray. His voice sounded like it was coming from the other end of a tunnel.

Left…tock…right…tick… Wait, no, that's not it. The order's reversed... The sound of a piano reached Logan's ears playing a hauntingly mysterious melody. Had that happened before? His mind found no answer.

"Can't remember…" Logan muttered unintelligibly. A woman's voice joined the piano playing. She was singing a beautiful aria that melded with the instrument to create a ghostly but strangely placid and inviting melody. The music was still far off and that kept most of the sound away from him. Longingly, Logan wanted to hear it more clearly. Dr. Murray raised his fingers to snap and his lips moved, counting down from three. Then he snapped and the world went black.

* * *

MORNING: Unknown Area

* * *

And then it went blue.

Royal blue, to be exact. Logan opened his eyes and looked around, seeing he was back within the blackness of his former dream only for a royal blue spotlight to switch on and shine down on him. For some odd reason, he was dressed in a gray pinstriped suit and red shirt. Ignoring the general weirdness of his situation, he had to admit that the suit came close to beating his uniform in terms of sheer badass.

"Alright, I'm done admiring this outfit," he said under his breath. Raising his voice, he looked up at the spotlight and called out, "Where am I?" Silence was his answer. A moment later, the piano started playing that same melody again and it was not long before the woman's aria followed. Light flooded Logan's consciousness, finally allowing him to see his surroundings in full.

He was in what appeared to be a high-class nightclub that was all but empty but for two people. Directly in front of Logan was a woman on a stage dressed in a sparkling indigo dress and white opera gloves. She kept her hair up in an elegant bun and her eyes were shut. This woman was the source of the aria, Logan realized, but he couldn't figure out how she knew how to achieve such amazing harmony with the piano player when she had her hands over her ears. The piano player himself was a tall man dressed in an indigo suit and black tie who had a blindfold over his eyes as he played the purple piano with the skill and ease of Beethoven himself. Again, Logan questioned why he intentionally handicapped himself like the woman.

Logan turned around apprehensively and saw a fully stocked bar behind him being tended to by a man with short bleach-blonde hair. Shaking off the initial shock, Logan noticed he, too, was dressed in indigo and even used a blue rag to clean out a wine glass. Turning around again, Logan's heart almost burst out of his ribcage. There, suddenly in front of the stage, was the strangest little man he'd ever seen in his life.

Balding like Dr. Murray, the man's hair was much longer and straight as opposed to the psychiatrist's puffy remaining hair. He was dressed in black ( a welcome change) and his white gloved hands were clasped together on the round table he sat at. But his nose was what drew Logan's attention. It was inhumanly long and hooked like a buzzard's beak. The man fixed Logan with an amused look in his big, bloodshot eyes when the boy noted the tall and attractive woman at his side. She, too, was dressed in indigo and carried a large book under her arm. She bore a strong resemblance to the bartender right down to their hair color.

"Welcome, young man," the man with the long nose said, his voice smooth as silk, "to the Velvet Room." Logan took another look around the club to confirm everything he was seeing was real. Then, rather ineloquently, he drawled,

"Dude, I am tripping_ balls_." This earned a laugh from the bartender.

"I assure you that this is no hallucination," the long-nosed man continued. He stood up and showed himself to possess long, skinny legs and a body shaped like an upside down egg. "My name is Igor. My associates here are Margaret," he pointed to the woman beside him, "her younger brother, Theodore -"

"Theo," the bartender insisted.

"Belladonna," Igor gestured to the aria singer, "and Nameless." The piano player nodded in Logan's direction, never once breaking concentration. Belladonna kept on singing.

"Uhm…" Logan fumbled around trying to find words in the presence of such a fantastic scene. "My name's Logan. Logan Martin."

"Very pleased to meet you, Logan. Please, take a seat," Igor offered politely. Logan slowly walked over to the indigo-cushioned chair opposite Igor as the strange man sat down once again clasping his hands together. "I assume you don't know why you're here."

"Is it that obvious?" Logan joked. "What was your first clue; the dumbstruck look on my face or the shock when you appeared?" For some reason, all of Logan's negative emotion had left him the moment he'd introduced himself to Igor. He felt strangely at peace here. Better not to question it, he reasoned. Igor laughed but Margaret kept her face stoic.

"A sense of humor. We haven't seen that in a guest in a long while," Igor remarked. "Nonetheless, I shall explain." Logan kept quiet and listened.

"Where we are now is the space between consciousness and sleep, a sort of safe haven or limbo. Only special guests such as yourself," Igor gestured at Logan, "are allowed to visit the Velvet Room."

"What makes me so special?" Logan asked. A wry smile grew from Igor's lips.

"You remember the dream you had last night, correct? The strangely vivid one?"

"Yeah, the one with the butterfly telling me about saving the world and crap." Margaret twitched almost imperceptibly in annoyance. "Is that why I'm here?"

"Indeed the very same," Igor confirmed. "Do not take that dream lightly. Your world is indeed in grave danger. I cannot explain the details now," he said quickly when Logan opened his mouth to ask. "But, fortunately, it is far off and it is preventable, though, only by you and a select few others such as yourself. People with the power to make their inner strength manifest. The power… of Persona."

"Say what now?"

"A Persona," Igor said, "is a mask one wears to face the hardships of reality. A sort of shield they show the world in order to protect their true selves. Normal people know this as a psychological theory but, in here, for people like you, a Persona is power and very much real."

"So… I can use a Persona?" Logan was beginning to catch on. "Okay, so this power is supposed to help me save the world? Sorry, Igor, but I'm not really buying into this." Igor chuckled wryly.

"I wouldn't expect you to just take my word on this. To you, we," he swept his hand across the room, "might as well be your imagination playing tricks on you. 'Tripping balls' as you so interestingly put it." Logan burst out laughing and took a minute to recompose himself.

"Okay, anybody with a sense of humor like yours must be real," he said after the last few traces of laughter disappeared. "So, how do I use this 'Persona'?"

"All in due time, my boy. Before that, you have to sign the contract," Igor said, suddenly all business. Logan raised an eyebrow and Igor responded by waving an arm above the surface of the table. A contract appeared from nothingness and a pen in an ink bottle did the same.

"How did you…? Forget it," Logan said, deciding it was better not to ask.

"This contract is nothing negative. It merely states that, in exchange for our services, you will work your hardest to strengthen your bonds with others and prevent your world from falling to chaos." Igor sat back and let Logan ponder his offer.

Logan heaved a sigh for the umpteenth time. So, from his perspective, according to a little hunchbacked man he met in a dream world filled with blue and indigo, the world was in need of saving and he was apparently the Chosen One. And, using a mask he'd show to the imperiled world, he would save it along with the help of a few other people like him and the power of friendship? It was unbelievable. Pure fantasy at best like something straight out of a dated RPG and, at the same time, a nagging force in the back of Logan's mind told him it was all true. He looked at Igor again and then shifted his gaze to Margaret. Her cold green eyes met Logan's and she gave a tiny nod as if reading the boy's mind.

"So, all I have to do is make a few friends, get a few super powers, and save the world?" Logan asked, his entire body language screaming doubt. Igor nodded at him. "Sorry, Igor. But I can't be assed. People don't like me very much where I'm from. Plus, this is all kind of farfetched, to be honest."

"I understand." Igor actually looked pretty understanding about it. "However…"

"There's always a 'however'," Logan groaned. He faintly noticed that Belladonna and Nameless were still singing and playing.

"Avoiding such a powerful destiny is not something that you can do. If the world calls for your help, you have no choice but to answer the call," the long-nosed man said seriously. Igor leaned forward in his seat, fingers laced together under his gargantuan nose and his brow furrowed.

"I don't like where this is going," Logan said. "I really don't."

"However much you may want to avoid this, you cannot," the strange man reiterated. "The call to destiny knows where you live and it refuses to take 'no' for an answer. You have limitless potential within you, Logan Martin. It would be a shame to let it all go to waste."

"I heard that last night," Logan said with yet another sigh as he got up out of his chair. He started walking away towards a door that appeared when started moving. "I'm gone. It was nice meeting you, Igor." Unbeknownst to Logan's turned back, Igor's face cracked into a devious grin.

"The next time you come here, it will be of your own volition," he said, keeping his smile out of his voice. "Before you leave, please, take a souvenir." Confused, Logan's answer came to him when a key appeared in the door knob of the door he was moving too. Curious, he took it out of its place and inspected it. Like most other things in the Velvet Room, it was a deep royal blue and had no teeth to speak of.

"What're you trying to pull, Igor?" Logan accused.

"Nothing at all," the man replied honestly. "We will meet again, Logan Martin. But for now, adieu." Logan eyed Igor warily before opening the door before him. A white void greeted him before it converted to light and engulfed him, taking him away from the Velvet Room. The instant before, some part of Logan's mind berated him for leaving.

* * *

**Welcome to the Velvet Room, dear reader. Please leave a review on your way out.**


	2. Trigger of Fate

**Persona Non Grata**

**By:** Brave Soul RMS

**DISCLAIMER:** Only a few of the characters featured here belong to me (Grey and Juniper most prominently). The rest were loaned to me by their authors with express permission. The Shin Megami Tensei games are not my intellectual property, only a source of inspiration.

**WARNING:**It's rated M for a reason. Those of you not man enough to stick around when things get rough, leave now while you still can.

* * *

**Chapter 001:** Trigger of Fate

After Logan left the Velvet Room, the rest of his therapy session went the way he'd grown used to and expected it to go. Dr. Murray would mutter unkind things under his breath and Logan would retaliate with his own special brand of bitingly sarcastic remarks. The usual back-and-forth. After first hour was over, Logan went through the monotony that constituted rest of his classes without incident. When he opted to take a nap during lunch, he didn't find himself back in the Velvet Room nor did that blue butterfly come back to frolic around in his dreams. Igor seemed so sure that he and Logan would meet again but when nothing out of the ordinary happened to him as the day went on, Logan was becoming more and more convinced that whole experience was just one extended hallucination.

He now sat in his seat next to the window in his fifth hour psychology class and stared at the ground three floors below while the teacher's words drowned under the sea of his thoughts. He looked down at the empty courtyard below bathed in the light of the late morning sun without really seeing what he was looking at. The images of what he'd seen in the Velvet Room were overtaking everything else he saw and pushing them into the background. He could still envision Theodore cleaning out that same wine glass and sometimes his field of vision flashed blue for a moment. Logan made a mental note to stop taking whatever it was Dr. Murray had been prescribing him.

"What the hell was that, exactly?" he asked the air. A few of the kids around him looked his way with looks of mixed confusion and dislike but Logan was too far-gone to notice. He wouldn't even have cared if he had. "Velvet Room; limitless potential; Persona… Was all of it real?" Then Logan suddenly remembered the key in the door Igor had told him to take. Remembrance dawned in his eyes and he reached into the pocket of his jacket, feeling something small and cold in there. He retrieved his hand and, somewhat hesitantly, opened his fist. The blue toothless key sat in his palm just as it had when he'd first gotten it.

"Mr. Martin!" The voice was sharp and shrill and accompanied by the loud smack of a textbook dropping on a desk. Logan jumped with a start and almost dropped the key in his shock. He glowered at his psychology teacher, a young Japanese woman with a long curtain of shiny brown hair down to the small of her back and square-framed glasses perched atop her now wrinkled-with-annoyance nose. Burning brown eyes stared down at Logan in disapproval and she tapped her foot impatiently. Ms. Fushimi was never one to stand for daydreaming.

"Ms. Fushimi," Logan answered back, composure returning to him in an instant. He ignored the scattered snickers in the room and focused only on Ms. Fushimi's face. "What's up?"

"You were daydreaming again. You know how I feel about that," the young teacher reprimanded. Logan gave a noncommittal shrug and a grunt. That same part of his mind that didn't want to exit the Velvet Room spoke up again and actually sympathized with Ms. Fushimi. Where did _that_ come from?

"I was so listening. It just didn't look that way," Logan defended in spite of his shiny new conscience. Ms. Fushimi expected that.

"Okay then," she challenged, "then repeat to me what I just said in your own words. What is a persona in terms of Jungian psychology?" If he ever saw Igor again, Logan would have to thank the man.

"A persona is a mask that someone puts on in order to deal with the world and protect themselves from any more damage," Logan answered with a self-satisfied smirk. "Put on a happy face and the world's none the wiser." Forced to accept her defeat, Ms. Fushimi told Logan he was correct and walked back to the front of the room to continue her lesson. A few murmurs buzzed throughout, a few of them the usual insults aimed at Logan but a fair amount of them praised his supposed intelligence and ability to listen while spacing out. Logan smiled and turned his attention back to the key.

So Igor and the Velvet Room were all real after all. It wasn't a dream, which meant the world might seriously be in danger.

"Whatever," Logan said. "If there are other people like me then Igor can just ask one of them to deal with this. I can't be assed." He let himself drift away now, bringing back the harmonious stylings of Belladonna and Nameless from his memory. He just might revisit the Velvet Room, he thought, if only to hear that melody one more time.

* * *

SEPT. 10th, 2020

AFTERSCHOOL: St. Yung Private School

**

* * *

**

DIN-DON-DAN-DUN

"Oh, well, I guess the day's over," the biology teacher said with a small laugh. Mr. Caper was even younger than Ms. Fushimi with a tall, lanky build and neat brown hair. He seemed a bit weak willed and had a hard time reigning in his class when they started to deviate from their assignments. He was also a friend of Logan's family but Logan tended to forget that.

"Your homework's in the workbooks; pages eight through ten," he said over the noise of his students packing up. Logan looked up at the board to copy the last few notes and saw something strange. Right above Caper's head was the Roman numeral for the number one. Logan blinked and rubbed his eyes out before looking again trying to confirm the number was written on the blackboard but when Caper ducked under his desk to get his bag, the number moved with him and disappeared.

Or at least it should have but Logan could _still_ see the number through the desk!

The number was still there when Caper stood back up. Either Logan was going crazier or Igor was getting more and more right in his predictions. But what did the number mean and how did it and Caper tie into everything?

"Caper can use Persona?" theorized Logan. "Oh, no way; the dude's spineless. Wait, it's not my problem." He shrugged and deserted the thought. He finished the last of the notes, zipped up his uniform jacket, and left class after everyone else had gone ahead of him.

Outside of the classroom were the various students of St. Yung's going about whatever it was they needed to do before returning home or to the dorms for the day. Across the hall were a series of blue lockers, some of them being opened and used but everyone was either going somewhere or hanging around with friends before they left. Logan leaned against the wall and looked around for anyone specific, not seeing anybody worthy of note. Then he saw Roux standing in front of the lockers with a few of her friends and his gaze lingered.

Roux was pretty popular around St. Yung's because she played guitar and was generally a fun person to be around. She talked animatedly to her friends, two girls and a boy Logan didn't know, and when she laughed, her eyes lit up. Roux noticed Logan looking her way, smiled energetically at him and waved. A bit dumbstruck, he numbly held up a hand and twitched it back and forth. Roux turned back to her friends and Logan was left staring at her. Then he looked at his still raised hand and smacked himself in the forehead with it.

"Augh, what am I doing? I look like a total stalker and what was that thing I did with my hand? Was I even moving?" Logan began to walk towards an exit, busy bemoaning his stupidity. Because of that, he didn't think to look where he was going and as a result, bumped into someone else. The sound of books hitting the floor, papers fluttering into the air and the unified shouts and gasps of multiple girls sounded off as one. The cacophonous noise combination was grating to Logan's ears and his conscience (at least, that's what he'd begun to call that inexplicable presence in the back of his mind) concurred when he pined for the music of the Velvet Room.

"Watch where you're going, freak!" one girl screeched.

"What's your problem?"

"Jett, honey, are you alright?" Oh, so _that's _who Logan knocked into. All the more reason to stand there impassively and not pick up the books. Jett Mitchell laughed off the unpleasant encounter and picked up the books on his own. His uniform adjustment of choice was just to wear the jacket open and leave the top three buttons on the dress shirt unbuttoned.

"_Least he knows how to wear the uniform,"_ Logan conceded.

"Aren't you gonna apologize?" the first girl shrieked. Logan's eye twitched in annoyance and he silenced her with a glare, smirking when she backed off like a scared kitten. Then he noticed there were only three girls with Jett instead of the usual ten or so.

"Shut up; your voice is annoying," Logan drawled and dodged her question completely. He vaguely noted he'd walked into the main lobby. The girl's glare came back full force with reinforcements from her fellow fangirls. "Oh, _now_ I'm _so _scared."

"Hey, hey, chill out, girls, it was an accident," Jett said civilly. He flashed them a winning smile and they practically turned to jelly and swooned and giggled like children.

"Pathetic," Logan muttered under his breath. Jett turned around to face Logan and Logan noticed that the number six was above his curly head in Roman numerals. The girls behind him had seven, eighteen, and three above their heads. If Caper, Jett, and his three fangirls were all Persona users, then the world was doomed either way.

"Listen, man," Jett said with a smile, "I'm real sorry about that. How's about we forget this whole thing and go out for a burger or something?" Logan's conscience was elated. Logan himself raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"_He's nicer than I thought he'd be. Maybe you really can't judge a book by it's cover,"_ he reflected.

"Wait…" Jett's face turned scrutinizing. "You're that guy. The school headcase, Logan Martin!"

"_Aww, fuck. I take it back."_

"Dude, I heard you, like, talk to yourself or something!" Jett's friendly smile warped and became a mocking grin. "Do you have imaginary friends? What're their names?" The girls behind Jett broke out in giggles. Logan's conscience bristled with anger, silently thankful that the other students were too busy to join in on this scene. Logan glared at Jett.

Screw this.

"Piss off," he said darkly to Jett. He started to walk away but Jett held out an arm to stymie him.

"C'mon, man, don't be like that. Switch personalities or something. I wanna see what the other you is like," Jett said.

"Piss off," Logan repeated. His voice kept even but his anger was quickly building. "I don't want a fight. Leave me alone."

"Just one little whatever it is you crazy people do and I'll leave you alone, I swear." Jett was lying. Logan could see it in his eyes. He'd had enough.

Grabbing the front of Jett's shirt, Logan turned the infuriating pretty boy around and slammed him into the wall. The fangirls let out a collective gasp. Jett's eyes widened and he shrank into his shirt, afraid but because Logan's face showed no anger; it remained completely apathetic. The main lobby went completely quiet as all movement stopped and attention was paid to the spectacle. Expectance of a fight loomed in the air.

"I said 'piss off'. Understand now?" Logan asked Jett in a low, dark voice. Inside, his conscience screamed heresy and begged Logan to drop it and let Jett go.

"I was just kidding, dude!" Jett spoke quickly and frantically and looked in danger of wetting his pants. "It was just a joke; let me go!" Logan released his shirt and Jett's hands immediately flew up in surrender.

"It was a joke," he said again, shaken. Logan said nothing and exited the school, Jett's eyes trained on his back as he walked. Everyone started moving again and the buzz of conversation resurged anew. "A joke… Sheesh, what the hell's his problem?"

"Oh, Jett, sweetie, are you alright?" the girl with the banshee voice asked loudly. Jett smiled immediately and put a hand on her cheek.

"I'm fine, babe. Takes more than that to shake me," he replied. The girls swooned. Jett smirked and they sighed and giggled, putty in his hands.

* * *

AFTERSCHOOL: Martin Residence

* * *

"Welcome home, little bro!" twin voices chorused when Logan walked through the door. They belonged to Logan's older sisters, Coco and Riri. Their real names were Corral and Rielle but they preferred their nicknames to their embarrassing original ones. The dark-haired twins greeted Logan with a smile and their brother reciprocated with a grunt and a nod as he dropped his bag on the ground.

"You rude little shit; give a proper greeting!" Riri shouted. She huffed and smoothed out the folds in her tank top and digging her phone out of her skinny jeans pocket. "I know you're a sociopath but we're family, dammit."

"Don't listen to her, Logan. Your greeting was just fine," Coco said serenely. She started putting her hair in a ponytail with the scrunchy she took out of her cardigan. "We're gonna go out in a bit. Run some errands for Mom and Dad and do some shopping at the bazaar. Care to join us?" The bazaar was a strip mall a few miles away in the next town. It was absolutely massive and held everything one might think of but held an air of modesty all the same. Its sheer versatility is what earned it its nickname.

"No thanks," Logan said with a shake of his head. "Not in the mood. Offer's appreciated, though."

"Those punks at school on your ass again?" Riri asked as she donned a jeans jacket. Logan nodded at her and flopped onto the couch in front of the television.

"Jett Mitchell this time. Started making fun of me so I slammed him into a wall." He laughed a bit at the memory. "Should've seen the look on his face."

"Nice, bro!" Riri cheered.

"How horrible, Logan. You shouldn't have done that," Coco reprimanded him though not unkindly. "You should've walked away." She shot a glare at Riri when she called her a wimp under her breath and Logan smirked.

"I tried. He stopped me. I made him brown his pants," Logan said simply. At this Riri burst out laughing and even Coco giggled a little. Logan was always most comfortable around his family, especially his remarkably different older sisters. They were like night and day, sun and moon, and never ceased to amaze Logan with their antics.

"_Come to think of it; I felt the same way in the Velvet Room,"_ he noticed. _"That's weird…"_

"Oh, wait, Rielle, I just remembered!" Coco piped up suddenly. She went into the kitchen across from the front door and came back out with an apple and a cheery smile. "I keep forgetting Matthew likes it when I bring apples."

"Oh, is that it?" Riri seemed to let out a held breath. Logan was about to turn on the TV but the mention of his biology teacher's first name caught his interest. "I thought you were going to talk about that stupid report going around." And now this new subject stole it away.

"What report?" he asked curiously. Riri and Coco gave him with identical looks of disbelief.

"Well, I guess you wouldn't know since you never watch the news," deduced Coco, "but there's been this weird outbreak of some odd condition called Apathy Syndrome."

"The hell is Apathy Syndrome?"

"Basically, people will just go into comas after having nightmares," Riri answered for her sister. "They'll hit stage five in their sleep cycle -"

"REM sleep?" Logan interjected.

"Yeah, not don't interrupt again. As I was saying, they'll hit stage five and start having these weird nightmares or at least that's what they gathered from the looks on their faces. Then they just don't wake up…."

"It's horrible," Coco said gloomily. "Nobody knows why, either. They're still alive but they refuse to wake up for a while. And when they do, it's like they're super depressed and nothing matters to them anymore. Like they've given up on life." The overall feel of the room took a nosedive, impressing its negativity upon the three siblings until all three were quiet. After a while, Riri spoke up,

"People around the victims at the time of their infliction say that the atmosphere gets all thick and oppressive suddenly and the person screams out and there's this weird light." Riri laughed and wiggled her fingers around like she was telling a ghost story. "It's the stupidest bullshit I ever heard. People can't move in REM sleep." Logan had to laugh at that. This was Riri talking. She always knew how to uplift a mood.

"If you want to learn more, go watch the news tonight," Coco suggested. Riri voiced her objection with a shake of her head. She marched over to Logan and grabbed his wrist, proceeding to drag him towards the door.

"Hey, wait, what're you doing?" he protested loudly. "Let me go!"

"Nuh-uh, bro. You can't just stay in here all day like a troll. You need to get out more," Riri said vehemently. "Besides, we need a pack mule, er, I mean, companion! Yeah, that's it…"

"Riri, let him go. He doesn't have to come if he doesn't want to," Coco said.

"Oh, that is a total lie, Coco; you're so agreeing with her!" Logan's conscience made itself known again, encouraging him to go with his sisters while its owner was preoccupied with regaining back his freedom. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Logan was enjoying this exchange with his sisters.

"I am not," Corral defended.

"Then why are you smirking? And Riri, let me go. I haven't even changed out of my uniform!" Coco giggled at her brother's scowling attempts to free himself from Riri's legendary vice grip.

"That's a crap excuse!" countered Riri. "You're always going on about how awesome you look in that thing, so shut up and let's go!" Logan succeeded in getting his hand back and heaved a sigh.

"Fine," he said. "I'll go. But I won't like it. And you two owe me big time."

"Like hell," the twins chorused jovially.

"Oh, right, there's a package for you in your room. It was here when we got home," Coco said. "Open it and let's get going."

"Package?" Logan's curiosity was piqued once more. "From who? Grandpa?" Coco shook her head.

"There was no return address," Riri answered for her. "Hurry it up, bro." And so Logan went down the hall to his room, finding a large but plain brown box set at the foot of his bed. Kneeling down to look at it, he saw that there really was no return address but it was addressed to him: Logan Martin, 335 Thebel Road.

Shrugging off any suspicion, Logan took a pencil out of the drawer in his bedside table and used the point to break the packaging tape on the box. He dug through the packaging peanuts and removed the Styrofoam cover inside the box to reveal a shiny silver briefcase underneath. On its surface was something written in Japanese but the '.ltd' at the end of it told him it must be some kind of corporation.

"Why would a company in Japan mail me something?" he wondered aloud. "I don't subscribe to anything from there." This was all very mysterious. Logan hated mysterious and preferred hard facts and answers over the mystic and unknown any day of the week. Regardless, he took the briefcase out of the box and placed it on his bed, undoing the clasps and opening it. What he saw inside nearly made him swear at the top of his lungs.

Inside the briefcase were eight handguns, silver in color, with black leather on the handles. They reflected the light in an evil way and seemingly glinted in the happiness of having found their way to Logan's room. One of the guns was inscribed with Logan's first initial and last name.

"This can't be happening," he whispered furiously. "Who… What… Why would someone send me guns?" He flew back over to the box in search of a note of some kind but found nothing. Then he saw the piece of paper taped to the Styrofoam cover he'd removed and wildly snatched it up. It read:

_Dear Logan,_

_Keep one of these Evokers on you at all times. They are irreplaceable tools that will be indispensable in your quest. The one designated as yours should be obvious and I know that, when the time comes, you'll know just how to use it._

_Best regards,_

_Igor_

_PS: I eagerly await your return to the Velvet Room._

_PPS: told you The Call knows where you live._

"What. The. Fuck?" Logan was beside himself with confusion and anger. How in the world did Igor get his address? And how did he even get out of the Velvet Room? "That sneaky little long-nosed bastard…"

Logan got up and took the Evoker belonging to him out of the briefcase before closing it and shoving it under his bed. He stared at the Evoker and took in every detail. It was remarkably light which probably meant that there weren't any bullets inside it at all. He turned it upside down to try and find the chamber but there was none to be spoken of.

"This is all too freaking weird…" Logan muttered in awe.

"Logan, hurry up!" Riri cried, retrieving her little brother from his mystified state. He hurriedly stuffed the Evoker into the inside pocket of his jacket and got up to leave. He'd sort out this problem later.

* * *

AFTERSCHOOL: South Avenue Strip Mall AKA The Bazaar

* * *

The bazaar was versatility incarnate. Everything and anything one might want to purchase at a shopping mall was right there at one's fingertips. Stores ranging from videogame stores to major clothing outlets to bookshops were incorporated into the three floor behemoth of a store. There were even an antique shop, boxing ring, and fighting dojo inside and a major hospital across the street to the confusion of the mall patrons. Peculiarities like this did nothing to hinder visitors, however. Unfortunately for Logan, The bazaar was just another place where students of St. Yung could publicly mock and/or avoid him _and_ it was his sisters' favorite place to hang out, so he frequently got dragged along to be their Sherpa. At least he could take comfort in the fact that his biology teacher would shoulder his burden along with him.

"Coco, Riri, do you guys seriously need a new TV? We have one in the living room already," Logan deadpanned while his sisters contemplated buying a four thousand dollar wide-screen plasma television. Inwardly, he thought it was an awesome idea but Logan was practical first and foremost.

"You can't really be considering this," Mr. Caper whined. "There is no way we're gonna consent to carrying that." His and Logan's arms were already heavily laden with bags from various shops within the bazaar. Logan raised an eyebrow at his whining. It was odd enough seeing his teacher in street clothes as opposed to his usual pressed shirt and tie but seeing him act and speak unprofessionally just amped the experience up to eleven.

"What he said," Logan added. "I don't know about Mr. Caper here but if you guys think I'm gonna bow down and carry that while I already got these," he shook the bags for emphases, "then you're crazier than everyone thinks I am." Logan's conscience reprimanded him. He told it to shut up.

"Ouch, that was cold, man," Mr. Caper said while laughing nonetheless.

"Speak professionally," Logan ordered bluntly. "It's weird hearing you talk like a student."

"Logan, be nice," Coco chided. "We're not really gonna buy it; Riri and I already used up all the money we'd allotted ourselves for today."

"Sucks," Riri sighed loudly. "When we get our apartment, that thing would be a welcome addition."

"When is that, exactly? You guys've been freeloading off of Mom and Dad for forever now," Logan pointed out with a sly smirk. Both twins immediately flew through a whole slew of feeble excuses as to why they hadn't moved out yet but everybody knew the real reason why.

"Hey, I'm just glad I don't have to carry the thing," Mr. Caper joked.

"Matt, you lazy bum!"

"Riri, be nice!"

"Hey, man, I just want to live and see twenty-five!"

"Okay, that's it. I need a soda. Call me when you guys are done." With that said, Logan left his sisters and teacher alone to bicker unaware of his departure. Winding his way through the maze of shops and shoppers alike, Logan found himself at the food court in line at the Wild Duck Burger. Their mascot, a dancing green mallard, sang its employers' annoying childish theme song incessantly and gave Logan a pounding migraine as a result. His conscience was in wholehearted agreement with that notion. Logan wondered how anybody could endure that kind of humiliation and torture even if their face wasn't seen for only minimum wage.

"The poor sap deserves a raise," he said to himself. Again, his conscience agreed. "So now you agree with me?"

_Indeed,_ his own voice answered within his mind. Seeds of panic and curiosity germinated within Logan.

"…The fuck was that?" Logan asked. He waited for an answer but none came. He breathed out his tension and absentmindedly ordered a soda when his turn in line came. Before he could even sit down and enjoy it, however, he was accosted by none other than Jett Mitchell, still in his uniform. He didn't look too happy to see Logan.

"What's up your ass?" Logan took a sip of his soda and looked nonchalantly at Jett. Noting that his fangirls were not part of the population of shoppers, he followed up with, "And where's the fan club?"

"I'm sorry," Jett said. Logan quirked an eyebrow. Might as well have some fun with this, Logan thought.

"For…?" he goaded as he hid a smirk by biting his straw.

"For making fun of you back in the school lobby. That wasn't cool. I went home and told my dad about it and he chewed me out so bad, man; you should've seen it." Jett laughed ruefully and held his hand out in friendship. "We cool?" Logan looked at it for a bit, his face contemplating as he casually sipped his soda.

"Sure, whatever, man," he said as he took Jett's hand and shook it. His conscience coaxed him into at least making small talk, so he did and asked, "What're you here for?"

"Oh, you know, I'm just here scoping out the girls. Need to find one." Jett gave a cheeky grin and he crossed his arms proudly. "I guess you know my reputation at school?"

"As a manwhore, yeah," Logan candidly remarked. Jett's composure evaporated and he actually stumbled forward like Logan's words were a physical blow.

"Man!" he shouted. "That was harsh, dude! You really don't pull any punches, huh?" Logan shrugged.

"Don't see any reason to." Jett laughed at that.

"You know something? You're alright, Martin. I think you deserve some payback for what happened back at school," Jett suggested. "Okay, I got it: ask me to do something. Anything. I'll even buy you lunch or something."

"Now there's an opportunity I can't pass up," Logan said with an amused smirk. He thought of some embarrassing action he could get Jett to do like streaking through the mall but Logan wasn't that mean. Just antisocial. Eventually, he glimpsed Henrietta Mackenzie coming out of a bookstore some hundred feet away, still in her uniform, and the idea came to him like a bolt of lightning.

"Flirt with her," he said simply. At the baffled look Jett gave him, he turned the teenage playboy around and pointed to Henrietta with his free hand. "Her. Mackenzie."

"Hah! Her?" Jett loosed a barking laugh. "You gotta be kidding! Watch and learn how the master does it." Jett tousled his hair slightly and produced a bottle of breath spray from his jacket pocket. Spritzing a few bursts into his mouth, he strode confidently over to Henrietta while she looked through the bag she'd taken out of the bookstore. Logan followed him and hung back a bit to blend in with the crowd but was still close enough to hear them talking.

"Big on books, huh?" Jett said. His eyes were half-lidded and a half-smiled graced his face. It must've made him look more handsome, Logan thought while he sipped soda, as a few girls that walked by Jett stopped and looked before turning to their friends and tittering madly.

"Huh?" Rietta looked up at Jett, bemused until she recognized him. "Oh. Yeah. Hi. You're Jett Mitchell, right?"

"My reputation precludes me," Jett said. He'd meant the words to be charming but they had much the opposite effect.

"The word you're looking for is 'precedes' but if you're trying to flirt with me, it does preclude you," she said, her voice even and mildly icy. Logan chortled at the honestly perplexed response Jett gave before trying to regain control of the situation.

"C'mon, babe, don't be like that. I just wanted to see if you'd like to go somewhere with me is all. Maybe out to dinner? A movie? Your choice." Then to seal the deal, Jett flashed his pearly white smile at her and kissed her hand. Rietta snatched it back and looked daggers at Jett.

"Not interested," was her curt reply. She turned and left a dumbstruck Jett scratching his head, thunderstruck. That had certainly never happened to him before.

"Oh, shot _down_," Logan said after Rietta was lost to the crowd. He tutted and placed a hand on Jett's shoulder in mock sympathy. "Tough break dude. Guess you can't have 'em all."

"That girl's crazy," Jett stubbornly refuted. "I mean, who wouldn't want me? I'm _hot!_ I have senior girls after me and I'm only a second year!"

"No biggie, man; she's kind of cold anyway. Almost as antisocial as me," Logan shrugged and reassured him.

"So you admit it?" For some reason, Logan couldn't be mad at the cheeky grin Jett flashed him and laughed.

"You know something, Mitchell? You're not half bad," he said. He took Jett's hand in a firm shake and the two felt what tiny enmity there was between them fade away.

Then he heard it.

**SMASH!**

Loud and jarring, the sound was exactly like that of shattering glass. Time stopped completely. It just froze. Like the world suddenly stopped turning. Logan looked around and saw that everyone had just become like the still figures in a painting.

A card suddenly appeared from nothing in Logan's field of vision. It was gray with odd patterns and what resembled a theatre mask in its center. Split down the middle, the mask's left side was white and the right side was black. The card flipped over and showed Logan the image on its other side: a black tree grew out of the ground and its branches split into a V shape. Nestled in the middle of the forking branches was a large black heart and a man and a woman, black silhouettes against a blue and pink background respectively, stood on either side of the tree. The Roman numeral for six - the same one present above Jett's head - was on the bottom of the card.

Then the voices came. And they echoed.

_Thou art I…._

_And I art thou…_

_Thou hast established a new bond… It brings thee closer to thine answer…._

_Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Lovers Arcana…_

"Tripping balls, tripping balls, I am _totally_ tripping balls!" Logan assured himself vehemently. "I did not just hear a creepy voice echo in my mind and time didn't stop and when I open my eyes again, the world will be moving again!" Thankfully, it was. Everybody was moving about again like they hadn't noticed time stopping and Jett had taken back his hand to look around for something to do.

But where did his pounding headache come from?

It was even worse than the one at Wild Duck Burger. And was the presence of his conscience always so noticeable? Logan could've sworn it was a tiny little voice or instinct in the back of his mind but now… It felt as if something were there in his mind other than his own thoughts and it desperately wanted out. So much so that it was willing to tear through his skull to taste sweet freedom.

"Listen, man," Jett began. He quickly switched gears when he saw the pained look on Logan's face. "You alright?" Logan ground out a response.

"Ugh… Yeah, just a headache; sorry…" Why was Logan apologizing? Normally he'd just snub out Jett like everybody else. …What'd those voices do to him? "You were saying…?"

"I was saying that we should go and follow that girl." At Logan's quirked eyebrow, he quickly added, "Y'know, to make sure she gets home alright. It gets dangerous around here at night." Logan was no sucker.

"This about your bruised pride, isn't it?"

"…Shut up and follow her."

* * *

EVENING: South Avenue

* * *

Logan and Jett followed Rietta down to the first floor of the mall and into the mall parking lot. It was twilight now, made evident by the world painting the sky above varying shades of orange, red, and yellow. The blazing scarlet sun hung low in the sky and the clouds turned purple under its heavy gaze. Logan registered none of that and focused on drinking his soda in a failed stab at killing off his growing headache.

"Rietta! Hey, Rietta!" Jett called after her fleeing back.

"_Shut up, Jett! You're making it worse!" _roared Logan mentally.

_Thou should not harbor such anger within thine heart._

"_Same goes for you, conscience!"_

"What do you want, Jett? And how do you know my nickname?" Rietta asked, voice even.

"C'mon, I just wanna talk," Jett whiningly assured her.

"Then why's he coming along? Since when were you two such good friends?"

"Since about ten minutes ago. But what's that got to do with things?" The three teenagers crossed the street at the red light and made their way to the nearly deserted back parking lot of the adjacent hospital. Logan's mental argument continued while Jett and Rietta kept their banter going outside.

"I heard he slammed you into a locker today at school and now you're friends? That's really kind of stupid," Rietta drawled.

"That's just cold, girl. Ice cold," Jett frowned at her. "Why're you going to a hospital?"

"Why do you want to know?"

_I sense a foul presence in this area. Leave at once._

"What presence…?" Logan forced out.

"Because I wanna know more about you. Is it wrong to want to make new friends?" Jett's smile was evident in his tone of voice.

_An evil oppressive entity that wishes nothing but destruction._

"Destruction…?"

"Friends? Like those giggling girls always following you around? Sorry, but I'd like to keep my dignity intact and if you must know, my mother works there and I have to go visit someone."

"Friend in the hospital? Man, does that ever suck."

_Leave here at once!_

"Shut up…"

"Yes, it does, now please go away," Rietta said harshly. The sun had started to descend even further. A few stars could now be seen in the sky, twinkling like diamonds before their light was inexplicably snuffed out. Ominous fog started to roll in but the trio were too wrapped up in their arguments to notice.

"You are one cold chick, you know that?" Jett stated.

"Shut up…!" Logan ground his teeth together as his headache slowly approached its critical point.

"Cold? Oh, so now you're insulting me!"

_No, wait… Stand and fight! Let me out! _The pain was unbeatable. Like Logan's skull was slowly cracking open with excruciating force.

"Shut…! Up…!"

"Yeah, real cold. I'm just trying to be nice here and -"

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Logan thundered. Jett and Rietta turned to him in wide-eyed surprise. Logan was doubled over and clutching his head grunting softly to try and stay the mental onslaught. His efforts were in vain and now he felt some the temperature drop a good twenty degrees or more. A split second later, an overwhelmingly malicious atmosphere pressed down on all present that bespoke death, destruction, evisceration and unspeakable atrocities.

"What's going on?" Jett asked, his breath rising in a thick mist. "Why's it so cold all of a sudden?"

"I feel sick…" Rietta put in. She dropped her shopping bag and gave the area the once over but she couldn't see past the fog. "Where'd all this fog come from? It's only the beginning of September."

_It's here…_

"What's…here…?" Logan groaned.

"Dude, who are you talking to?" Jett asked. He never got his answer for at that moment, all the fog that had accumulated in the area suddenly rushed out to the sides and formed a wide ghostly circle around the three students. The cold and atmosphere still remained with the latter of the two growing exponentially. Pure, undiluted darkness started to form and coalesce into a writhing orb of spite. The orb split itself into three and its three parts fell to the ground with a sickening series of squelches.

"The hell…?" Jett breathed. His eyes slowly widened as the process continued and his expression became one of a mix of disgust and awe then the amorphous sludge piles started to move. They reformed into one and started to screech out a horrible tortured noise that rent the ears of its listeners. Then a blue mask burst out of the pile of darkness and stared forward blankly.

"Oh, my…" Rietta whimpered. "It's hideous…" Then the shadowy blob burst up with a louder screech and grew arms that clawed at the ground in a frenzy and inexplicably started growing muscle on an amazing scale. The arms grew until they outsized the main mass and started to push upwards and lift a large upper body out the sludge followed by a lower body that was much smaller by comparison. A head and neck burst out of the upper body and the completed monster began to grow until it reached a good eleven feet tall. Then it spoke in a garbled throaty voice,

"HuuuUMaaNS! BRUte WiLl… ConsUMe…HuMAAAnSSs!"

"That thing can talk?" Jett cried disbelievingly. The Brute raised its arm with a gurgling roar.

"MOVE!" Logan barked. The Brute brought down with unreal strength and a deafening impact noise. Pieces and slabs of the parking lot flew into the air and the three teenagers were thrown backwards. Rietta shrieked.

"Hey! What the hell is that thing!" Jett called out. "Logan; Rietta, where are you!"

"I'm here!" Rietta cried from behind a parked car.

"Get out of here!" Logan commanded. "Before it gets you!" To hell with his headache, he decided. Getting out of this situation alive was the priority.

_No! Don't leave! Fight!_ his conscience demanded of him.

"You're insane! If I die, you go, too!" he shouted back at it. The Brute gave yet another strangled yell and swept its arm across the parking lot hoping to hit something. Jett dove out of the way in time but Logan wasn't so lucky and got bowled over into the car Rietta cowered behind. Miraculously, nothing broke but he was winded.

"Logan!" Jett shouted concernedly.

"I'm alright; just run!" The Brute started on his way towards Logan with slow thundering steps. Fear stricken, his hand plunged into his jacket and pulled out the Evoker. Ignoring Jett and Rietta's cries and demands for answers as to why Logan had a gun, he pulled the trigger three times. His heart sank when no bullets came out. Logan cursed loudly and scrambled out of the way, letting the Brute's fist slam into the ground where he was seconds before and leave a crater.

_Fight!_

"Fine!" Logan rushed the Brute and with speed he definitely did not possess a moment before, he dodged the Brute's next punch and jumped onto its arm, ran up the sinewy shadowy mass, pulled his fist back and pistol whipped the side of the monster's masked face. There were looks of thunderstruck astonishment all around when the strike actually sent the Brute's snapping back and felled him. Logan jumped off his adversary and stared dumbly at it and then at the hand that held the Evoker.

"What did I just do…?" he breathed.

"Don't just stand there!" Jett screamed from somewhere. It was too late; the Brute's foot lashed out and kicked Logan across the parking lot and into the fog barrier. He should have passed right through it but instead he crashed into it like it were a solid brick wall. The world slid in and out of focus; Logan's body was shocked into total confusion and he shook like a leaf.

The Brute towered over him, his footfalls drowning out Jett and Rietta's hysterics.

"Logan, get out of there!"

"Run now; you're gonna die!"

"ANY laSt WoRDs, HUmaaaAAN?" the Brute warbled. It raised a fist. As if the mass of shadowy muscle cared about chivalry.

_Release me! Release me! I will fight in your stead! Stop shaking and stand firm! Release me!_ Logan's conscience demanded. His headache skyrocketed, peaked and died in a split second. A profound presence evolved from Logan's conscience. A presence that radiated bravery and an unshakeable will. A presence willing to fight; to protect; to cut down the abomination that dared stand against it.

Logan willed himself to stop shaking as his conscience's courage flooded him. His eyes darted to the Evoker. He squeezed its cold handle and searched his mind for answers.

"_How do I do that?" _he growled desperately. The gun was completely useless for shooting his attacker so it held no bullets. "_If the gun isn't mean to shoot that thing…"_ he looked up at the waiting Brute and back down to the Evoker.

_It's destiny!_

"_Destiny, huh? Like what Igor was talking about…?" _Logan's hand slowly rose to put the barrel to his head. He closed his eyes and answered his assailant's question with the utmost calm in his voice.

"Last words? Just one."

"Wait! Logan, don't do it!" Jett roared in panic. Jett knew Logan was picked on but that was no reason to do something so drastic. Then again, Jett didn't know exactly what it was that Logan held in his hand.

Logan didn't even look at Jett and tightened his grip. His pulse raced and his heartbeat pounded in his ears like the frenzied punches of a doomed inmate. Logan's pupils dilated as a shot of adrenaline accelerated into his bloodstream. Fear and logic and every fiber of Logan's being told him to run. Screw destiny; drop the damn gun and run away! it pleaded with his better judgement. On the opposite side, instinct screamed at him to stand firm and do it, demanding he pull the trigger despite not knowing what would happen.

A dark smile played upon Logan's lips, a scoff of a laugh leaving him. The Evoker suddenly felt a bit heavier. Logan stared dead into the expectant Brute's face and uttered but one word. And with that word, he sealed his fate.

"Persona!"

_**BANG!**_

A bullet was pierced right through Logan's head and he felt he'd died only to find that this was far from the case. Rather, he felt as if he was experiencing birth for a second time on an infinitely more vivid scale. A double helix of glass shards spilled out from where the imaginary bullet left the boy's head and spiraled around him, towering above all while blue fog spilled out in all directions from under him. Within the spiral of broken glass, a figure started to form from nothing as if emerging from the thickest fog.

Logan's fingers moved again for the first time; he once again took his first breaths; he saw; he heard; he felt; he _LIVED _again for the first time! But this time... This time, he had power. Unimaginable, immeasurable power. He was not weak as he was at the time of his first birth; not as weak as he'd been just before.

_**"I AM THOU."**_ Logan knew at once that he didn't say that. Neither did any of the others. Yet, he actively heard the words at the same time as they resonated within his mind - in his voice - like the somber clang of a bell surges through an empty church. Logan and all others present looked up and realization landed a haymaker dead in Logan's face. He was not in fact being reborn; the ethereal being suspended above him was just entering reality.

_**"I AM THOU," **_the figure repeated, this time much deeper while still sounding like the boy underneath him. His words were meant for Logan. _**"AND THOU ART I. FROM THE SEA OF THY SOUL, I COMETH. I AM GAWAIN, KNIGHT OF CONFLAGRATION."**_

The figure - Gawain - was nothing short of something straight out of a the depths of imagination. Though its - his - back was turned to Logan, he already knew exactly what Gawain looked like.

His upper arms were covered in black armor and hexagonal arm guards bastioned his forearms. The left-hand guard was much bigger and covered his arm from the fingertips to the elbow while the right left his clawed hand visible. Gawain's torso was practically made of armor. The pectoral layer thick and black as darkness, the second layer of crimson hugging him just under the ribs, and the brazen gold guarding his midriff. His legs, long and spindly, were armored at the thigh and fused to his shins and feet to meld the ankle joint almost completely to the limb. Tear-shaped plates covered his hip joints and on his back was a coattailed cape with a sigil of a dragon's face.

The creature's face was an enigma in every sense of the word. The lower half of it was covered by a silver scarf, one end billowing outwards for three yards in an unseen, unfelt wind. Most of the rest of Gawain's face was hidden by a disheveled mop of brown hair. It formed spiky bangs that curtained his right eye while the majority stuck up and fanned out at the back. A grated visor kept itself around the creature's neck like a pair of headphones, and, uncovered by his bangs, Gawain's piercing yellow left eye, a topaz orb set in pale skin, stared ahead at the Brute unblinkingly, daring it to make a move. To threaten him.

To threaten Logan. Then the Shadow would end.

To everyone else, Gawain was what you'd find skulking around the nightmares of a disturbed medieval fair patron. To Logan, it was out-and-out awesome. Logan stared at the Evoker in his hand, the barrel smoking as if an actual shot was fired, and felt laughter bubble up in his throat. Laughter? Why would he be laughing at a time like this? Even so, he began to chuckle madly and it didn't take long for that chuckle to turn into a full blown maniacal cackle. Logan pushed his head back with the palm of his hand and his hair copied Gawain's, covering his right eye. His left one glowed a deadly yellow in the near pitch-darkness.

"What... What _is_ that thing...?" Rietta breathed. Her eyes never left Gawain and she couldn't find the sense to get back up on her feet. She wanted to scream out in terror but her self-conditioning held her fear in her eyes. "It... Did it come from Logan...?"

"This can't be happening! He... Logan should be dead! He friggin' blasted his brains out! Why is he still standing? What the fuck's going on?" Jett raved like a lunatic. He clenched his teeth so hard they were in danger of fusing his jaw shut and his eyes shook in their sockets. Hey, if Jett's knees refused to knock, his eyes would _gladly_ show fear in their place.

The eyes were the window into the soul. Judging by appearances, Rietta and Jett's souls had just been scared shitless.

"Gawain!" Logan barked, grin still there despite the fear it instilled. "Rip him apart!" The grated visor suddenly flipped forward and settled over Gawain's eyes, completing his appearance as a knight. An elegant black blade morphed from his right hand and he crossed it over his heart, ready to protect and serve.

_**"YES, MASTER."**_

Gawain flew forward and slammed the Brute with his shield arm. The impact pushed the evil creature back and gouged the pavement where it stood, blocking with both arms. The Brute pushed Gawain back and threw a fist forward only to have it expertly dodged by Gawain with little effort and countered with a sword stab. A warbled cry escaped the Brute as Gawain faded away

"Crap!" Logan grit his teeth, shut his eyes and shot himself twice with the Evoker to the screams of Jett and Rietta. Gawain reappeared like Logan hoped he would and followed up his attack with a shield bum-rush and a spinning slash. Black sludge trailed off the sword and the wound before it too disappeared. Gawain disappeared again and Logan was quickly getting the hang of the battle.

"So he disappears after an attack and I have to shoot again to call him back. Fine then! Rietta, Jett, get to the edge of the ring!" A yellow flame burst into existence floating right above Logan's uniform badge and blazed with life. More adrenaline pumped into Logan and he grinned at the feeling. Twirling the Evoker on his finger he caught it and pressed it to his head again, shouting out as he fired.

"Gawain!" The shot echoed though the empty parking lot and more glass blew out of Logan's head as the black knight reappeared to viciously slice at the Brute's head. It blocked with one massive muscled arm and landed a heavy hit to Gawain's midsection. When Gawain faded, the Brute loosed a ghastly wail and thundered towards Logan then jumped over the boy and grabbed the car Rietta was still hiding behind. It threw the car at Logan and gave its own distorted version of a laugh as the two-ton metal object sped for its target.

"Cleave!" Logan fired again. Gawain reappeared and sliced through the car like it were nothing but a loaf of bread and the two halves bounced away from each other into the wall. Logan inexplicably felt a little drained after ordering the attack but his flame did not waver. He'd only called out the first word to come to mind and was not expecting that.

"Whatever. Next move!" he grunted when the Brute roared and drowned out Rietta's shrieks of terror.

_Agi,_ Gawain said within his mind.

"Okay, then, Agi!" Logan repeated as he pulled the trigger. Gawain appeared again and raised his now-normal hand to reveal a red jewel in his palm. A blazing inferno came to life in his palm and he threw it at the Brute like a star pitcher would a fast ball. It impacted and immediately engulfed the shadowy monster in flames while the one on Logan's chest shrank slightly.

"Another! Agi!" Another shot, another blaze but this one was merely willed into being by a wave of Gawain's hand. "Now Cleave!" BANG! Logan's Persona reformed his hand into a sword and punched the flailing Brute before slicing its arm clean off. The severed appendage hit the floor and promptly melted into a puddle of black ichor. Logan shook off the drop in his stamina and focused.

"Save Rietta!" Logan commanded before Gawain had a chance to return to his mind. Gawain nodded silently and swept up Rietta in his non-weaponized hand. The Persona knight flew back to Logan's side and dropped her off before fading. Rietta found use of her legs again and ran to Jett when he called for her. The Brute was still clutching its now armless shoulder and screamed with the combined agony of having its body charred twice and losing a limb.

"Time to end the ugly bastard!" Logan barked, grin returning. He put the Evoker back to his head and called Gawain to the front of his mind. "Gawain!" The shot echoed stridently and Gawain rushed the Brute sword-first and ran it through. It screamed for the umpteenth time and Logan frowned, annoyed.

"Cleave." Bang! "Cleave!" Bang! "CLEAVE!" Gawain pulled his sword up at an angle and viciously ripped through the Brute's body with the flat of his blade. A chunk of black ichor flew into the sky as Gawain brought his bloody blade down and cleaved straight through the Brute in a perfect cut, mask and all. The final strike came with a loud unearthly bellow from Gawain; he spun around and cut again through the Brute horizontally and, with one last wail, it exploded into ichor that promptly evaporated away.

Gawain lingered for a while longer and his visor flipped back while his sword changed back into a hand. Logan grinned at his Persona, brimming with pride. Gawain looked out of the corner of his eye at his master, turned around, and knelt staring at Logan with his visible golden eye.

"_**THOU HATH UNLOCKED THE POWER OF THE FOOL ARCANA. MAY IT AND I SERVE YOU WELL." **_The Persona slowly faded back into Logan's mind.

"Dude, what was all that?" Jett asked breathlessly. "That thing. It came out of you when you shot yourself. Why are you still alive?" Rietta stood shaking at his side and clutching his jacket. Logan looked at his Evoker and opened his mouth to answer but the physical drain of having used Cleave three times in a row caught up with him. His eyes rolled back into his head and the ground rushed up to meet him. Before he lost all contact with the world, he heard Jett and Rietta's concerned gasps and he could've sworn he heard the first few notes of Nameless's playing. Then he heard Igor's voice.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room."

* * *

**Ladies and gentlemen, our new Fool is born. You know what to do.**


	3. Into the Breach

**Persona Non Grata**

**By:** Brave Soul RMS

**DISCLAIMER:** Only a few of the characters featured here belong to me (Grey and Juniper most prominently). The rest were loaned to me by their authors with express permission. The Shin Megami Tensei games are not my intellectual property, only a source of inspiration.

**WARNING: **Must I repeat myself? Mature rating, people!

* * *

**Chapter 002:** Into the Breach

"Welcome to the Velvet Room." Igor smiled openly displaying all of his teeth in a creepily wide grin. Margaret stood stock still next to him, unblinking, daintily clasping the same massively oversized book in front of her. Belladonna and Nameless's soulful duet still resonated through the near-empty club but Theodore was strangely absent from the Velvet Room. The unknown element of the Velvet Room kept Logan calm and his sociopathy in check but it didn't stop him from challenging Igor's grin with a practiced scowl.

"You sneaky son of a bitch. You knew I had no choice in the matter, didn't you? I have to play hero." He hardened his glare when Igor's grin widened.

"My apologies, Logan, but I did tell you that a powerful destiny such as yours could not be refuted," replied Igor. "Even now, you feel it. Am I correct?" Logan quirked an eyebrow at him. "The power of the Fool Arcana. The power of your Persona."

It did not take much concentration for Logan to notice; Gawain's presence in his mind was prominent. Stalwart and steadfast, the Persona radiated power and heavy confidence within that power. It was a foreign sensation and yet it was as familiar to Logan as his own consciousness. Strangely enough, he liked the feeling. It made him feel…safe in the presence of the overwhelming fact that he'd just been tossed into the unknown without even the luxury of preparation.

His Persona knew the danger and despite that knowledge, Gawain would fight. Gawain would protect his master.

"Gawain… Was he always -?"

"A part of you?" Igor finished. "Yes, indeed he was. An important part of you that makes you who you are. Your second self, so to speak." The hunchbacked little man chuckled at a joke known only to himself. "Of course, that is what Persona is in the first place. However, your time here today is short and we have much to talk about. Firstly, concerning your new Social Link..."

"Social Link?" Logan then remembered time stopping in the mall when he shook hands with Jett. "You mean that voice in my head? And that sound like breaking glass with that thing about the Lovers Arcana?" Igor nodded an affirmative.

"People in this world have personality traits that coincide with the twenty-two major arcana in a deck of tarot cards," he explained. "You are of the Fool Arcana, whose number is zero. It represents the limitless potential within you and that potential's ability to become whatever it is you make of it."

"I saw a number above Jett's head and my teacher's and the girls that followed Jett around. Were those the numbers of different arcana?" Logan asked, quickly catching on. Igor smiled and put a finger on the tip his massive nose, an impressive feat in itself.

"Indeed. Jett is of the Lovers Arcana, number six, and Matthew Caper is arcana number one, the Magician. Both arcana have their own symbolism but I am not allowed to tell you anything about them until you figure it out yourself." Logan frowned at that. In the short time he'd become aquainted with Igor, Logan had grown used to the man answering his questions.

"So then what do these numbers and arcana have to do with Social Links?" he asked. Then it dawned on him. "…Personas have arcana too, don't they?"

"You are indeed a bright boy," Igor said with a hint of pride. "Yes, a Persona's arcana will be the same as the one of the person who summoned them. You are of the Fool and so too is Gawain. But we are veering off track and I must explain the importance of the Social Link. Please, have a seat." He gestured to Logan's seat and the boy took it gratefully and leaned forward to listen.

"The strength of the Persona is the strength of the heart and the strength of the heart comes from the bonds you make with others. As a Fool, the ability to create Personas of all the arcana is open to you. By making friends and strengthening bonds with people of the various arcana, that power grows. You have already made a Social Link with Jett of Lovers Arcana so your power to create Personas of that arcana has grown slightly more powerful. Do you understand?" Logan nodded.

"So the stronger my links, the stronger the Persona of that arcana will be when it's created?" Logan asked. "This is all still confusing."

"Do not fret. Your interpretation was correct," Igor assured him. "To that end, we encourage you to make many new friends and strengthen the bonds between you. It is essential to your quest."

"Igor, I know you know that I'm not very well liked at school. It's going to be hard for me to make new friends, let alone strengthen the bonds I might make," Logan said flatly. "Jett's one story; I admit that I…misjudged him…and I think it'll be easy to become better friends with him, but with everyone else?" Igor gave a knowing smile.

"That is why you possess the Wild Card. The ability to create and store within your soul more than one Persona. If you were anyone else, you would be limited to but one but you," he pointed at Logan with a slender finger, "are special. Do not worry about your unpopularity. The Wild Card will open new doors to you as you advance but it is up to you to choose which path to walk."

"I still don't understand all of this, but, fine. I'll go with it for now," Logan said. "So how do I create new Personas?" Igor smiled and waved a hand over the table to conjure the contract and pen once more.

"You will not be able to unless you sign our contract," he said over Logan's irritated groan. "It is the one condition you must agree to." Logan grunted and looked over the only words written on the contract.

"'I, Logan Martin, promise to take full responsibility for the consequences of my actions.'" It was completely straightforward and, knowing that he was already bound by destiny, Logan took the pen and signed the contract. Igor smiled and made the contract disappear. Margaret approached the table and placed the leather-bound book on its surface, undoing the buckle to reveal the blank pages inside.

"This is the Persona Compendium," she said. Her voice was crisp and cold and without emotion and reminded Logan of Rietta.

"It's empty," Logan noted redundantly. Margaret gave him an indecipherable look.

"It is where you may store any Persona that are not in use and register the ones that you currently possess. If you ever lose a Persona, you may summon it back from the Compendium from a nominal fee," she explained. Logan raised an eyebrow at her but allowed her to continue nonetheless. "You currently have Gawain, so it would be a good idea for you to register him now."

"How?" Igor grinned and put his fingers to his head and bent his thumb like he was firing a gun. Logan smirked as he got the message. He stood up from his seat and reached into his suit jacket for his Evoker, put it to his head as blue fog swirled around him, and fired. The shot echoed mysteriously throughout the Velvet Room, even momentarily conquering Belladonna and Nameless. Gawain appeared before Igor and Margaret and gazed down at them unblinkingly.

"Magnificent…" murmured Igor.

"_**Master Logan,"**_ the Persona said humbly.

"Gawain," Logan acknowledged. "Touch the book." Gawain acted without hesitation and touched one clawed armored finger to the blank page. One small flash of light later and new words were printed on the page in Logan's handwriting.

_Gawain. Fool Arcana. Level 1._

Gawain then turned to his master and bowed before returning to his place within Logan's soul. Margaret closed the Compendium and resumed her position while Igor retook the reigns of conversation, speaking quickly.

"Our time together is quickly running out. The monster that you fought in the parking lot of the hospital is known as a Shadow. Shadows are the negative emotions of mankind given material bodies and unleashed into the world to sow discord. As a Persona user, it is your duty to stop that from happening."

"So the Shadows are what's threatening the world," Logan noted. "Good to know. How do I do that?"

"That will be explained upon your next visit but first, you will need a suitable weapon." Logan quirked an eyebrow. "You cannot expect to rely only on your Persona for combat. You recall what happened when you overused your Cleave skill? To prevent that, you must fight as well. Theodore is at work forging a weapon for you but Jett will need one of his own." At that point, Logan's eyebrow disappeared into his hair.

"Jett's a Persona user?"

"Indeed, though he has not awakened to it as of yet. It still sleeps within his soul. You must inform him of this, obtain a weapon and then return here at twilight from the entrance in your world. Do not worry, the key will lead the way," he insisted when Logan opened his mouth. "Theodore will call and inform you of your assignment. Until we meet again…"

"Right… Later, Igor," Logan muttered. The exit behind Logan flew open and the light slowly filled up the room encroached on his location. "Wait, before I go, you said I'd come here of my own free will. I was dragged here like last time." Margaret answered for him.

"Is it not obvious? You were calling out for the music of the Velvet Room all throughout the day," she stated. The light approached faster now. Igor gave another knowing grin. Logan answered with a smirk.

"You sneaky son of a -" was all he was able to say before the light took him in its embrace.

* * *

NIGHTTIME: South Avenue

* * *

"…ogan… Lo….n! …Logan!" Logan's eyes snapped open and he frantically pushed himself upright. He was back in the parking lot. It was dark. The Evoker was still in his hand and Jett was still there, panic written all over his visage. There was no danger of being crushed to death by the Brute and all was silent save for the chirping of crickets. Logan's flame had gone out. They were safe again.

"Dude, finally! I thought all those shots to the head finally did you in!" Jett heaved a sigh of relief and switched emotions from panic to fearful anger. "What the hell was that, anyway? You scared the shit out of me and Rietta and she ran off into the hospital a while ago!" Jett threw an arm behind him towards the hospital. Logan looked around and confirmed Rietta was nowhere to be found.

"How long have I been out?" he asked Jett. His calm threw the other boy for a loop but Jett quickly recovered.

"About ten minutes now where the fuck did you get a gun?" he demanded.

"It came in the mail," Logan said simply with a shrug. Jett's jaw dropped like a ton of lead. "Yeah, I pretty much had the same reaction."

"Okay, so somebody sends you a magic gun in the mail that you shoot yourself in the head with and then a giant knight with a sword for a hand comes outta freaking nowhere and saves our asses? I'm supposed to believe that?" Jett's speech increased in pitch and speed as he went on.

"It happened right in front of you, didn't it? Stop being such a little girl," he told Jett, settling right back into his normal self. Jett let out a long breath and ran a hand through his hair. He offered Logan a hand and pulled his new friend up.

"Yeah, you're right. Gotta calm down. No use getting all jittery. …But, _man_, that was some crazy shit," Jett muttered, clearly still shaken. "You think Rietta's gonna tell someone about the gun?"

"Not a gun," Logan corrected. He looked at the instrument with new respect and a hint of gratitude. "An Evoker. And probably not; she was too scared to even move. Doesn't really look like the type to talk much, either."

"Yeah, you're probably right," agreed Jett. "But you don't talk much either." Logan shrugged again. He looked Jett up and down and inwardly wondered how someone like St. Yung's famous playboy could be a Persona user. Setting that notion aside, Logan surveyed the damage left by his battle with the Brute. The spot where the Shadow had withstood Gawain's rush attack were still there as were the crater and the pieces of pavement that had been blown into the sky by its attack were littered across the parking lot. The car that Gawain sliced through lay in two battered, twisted, and broken pieces. Then it hit Logan that he'd done combat with the Brute (and utterly obliterated it) without having moved from the spot where he now stood.

"Persona…" he whispered, awed of the power he now possessed. He could practically feel Gawain swell up with pride in their victory. "Jeez… Guess I got a little wild here, huh?"

"A little?" Jett shouted incredulously. "You laughed like a maniac and had your imaginary friend thingy slash off that sucker's arm! And then it freaking diced him up and roasted him like he was a prime rib and you even had it cut a _car_ in half!" Then Jett did the unexpected and laughed and slapped Logan on the back. "Dude, you are badass! I got some serious respect for you now, what with you having saved my life and all."

"Uh… Thanks? I guess…" Logan quirked an eyebrow at Jett. It turned out that he was wrong about the boy all along. "Listen, we should get out of here. If Henrietta really did tell people about what happened, there are gonna be cops and I kinda don't want to go to jail." Jett swept his eyes around the parking lot and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, you're right. But, y'know, I get the feeling that something big's going on that we don't know about… What do you think?" He followed after Logan as the boy started jogging towards the mall.

"Obviously," Logan scoffed. He forced down his pride and worked past his social incompetence and slowed to a walk. If Jett really was a Persona user, then it was important that Logan learn to work together with the boy.

"_After all, I've already got the Social Link,"_ he mused inwardly. "We need to talk tomorrow," he said aloud. "At lunch. I'll fill you in then. Until then, keep this to yourself or I'll beat the crap outta you." As expected of him by now, Jett laughed.

"Alright, alright, I get it now, Mr. Antisocial Superpowers," he said flippantly. "Keep my mouth shut. Got it." Logan wanted to sigh but he thought it better just to smirk and let Jett's behavior slide. If they were going to be working together, he'd rather be - dare he say it? - friends rather than forced coworkers.

"So, on a scale of one to ten, how cool was it when that car got sliced in half?" he asked. Jett busted out in a grin.

"Eleven. This is gonna be the start of a beautiful friendship, ain't it?" Logan's smirk grew a bit wider in spite of himself.

* * *

September 11th, 2020

MORNING: South Avenue Hospital; Room 327

* * *

Except for the steady beeping of the cardiograph, the stark white hospital room was both somber and deathly serious all at once. A woman in a lab coat stood over the girl in the hospital bed. Her worried deep brown eyes had heavy bags under them and a few strands of her hair stood out at awkward angles. A slouch was prominent in her stance and she found herself suppressing the urge to yawn and cry at the same time. The past few nights had not been kind to Rose Mackenzie. The girl in the bed, however, defied expectation and looked completely fine. There were no signs of sickness whatsoever plaguing her and if it weren't for her unearthly stillness and the fact that she was hooked up to a heart monitor, she could've passed for one who was merely sleeping.

"Mom…" Rietta said numbly. "Is Aria going to be okay?" Rietta gazed down at her older sister's still form and bit her lip. No movement other than that of her eyes rapidly flitting back and forth under their lids. Rose heaved a weary sigh.

"I don't know, honey." It brought her unimaginable pain to have said those words. She was a mother first and foremost and a doctor second. For both sides of her identity to be unable to help her daughter while she was in such a perilous state… It practically wrenched her heart out.

"But it's not like she has cancer or anything," Rietta reasoned. "It's just Apathy Syndrome. Can't you just wake her up?"

"Don't you think I've tried?" Rose snapped. Her youngest daughter flinched and she slapped herself mentally. "I'm sorry… But we've tried everything and I've been here at the hospital for three days now. It's hard to even try and make any headway into treating Apathy Syndrome when the only documented cases were isolated to Japan."

"On a small manmade island, no less," Rietta added barely above a whisper. "Oh, Aria…" Rose hung an arm around her daughter's shoulders and squeezed tightly.

"Don't worry," she said. "Aria's got a love for life that nothing can beat. Not even Apathy Syndrome. I'll stay here and continue her treatment. You just go to school, okay?" She kissed the top of Rietta's forehead and nudged her towards the door.

"But, Mom -" she began her protest But Rose would have none of it. It was bad enough that the mother had to deal with this situation but Rietta was young and needn't be bogged down with such negativity. The girl had enough on her mind as it was.

"Henrietta. Go. I'll make sure she wakes up, okay?" Rose gave her youngest child a weak but reassuring smile and motioned for her to leave with her hands.

"Okay…" Rietta cast one last look at her sister, sighed, and left.

"_Please, Aria… Wake up," _she desperately wished.

* * *

MORNING: St. Yung Private School

* * *

The first thing that Logan noticed when he walked into the courtyard that morning was that Henrietta Mackenzie was strangely absent. That immediately sent up a red flag. If she had called the police and the authorities had gotten involved, it'd be much harder for him to go about his life than it already was. Then again, dealing with the police was nothing compared to enduring the torture teenagers were capable of unleashing.

"One way or the other, this is bad," Logan muttered to himself. "I best be on lookout."

"_**Stop them. Cars,"**_Gawain suggested. Logan jumped a little at hearing the Persona knight's voice in his head. The fact that it was so similar to his own made it even more unsettling. At his confusion, Gawain replayed the memory of him slicing a car in half.

"No, Gawain, we want to stay _out_ of trouble. Besides, I don't want to give these idiots another reason to bug me," answered Logan. A few students walked by and whispered amongst themselves. Logan wondered why for about a split second before realizing it must've looked as if he were talking to himself. Technically, that was true. He scoffed.

"_**Agi, Master?" **_

"…You want me to - ?"

"_**Indeed." **_Gawain was smirking, that much Logan knew from the foreign sense of amusement he felt. He said nothing and sat at one of the benches. He rested his head in his hands and resisted the urge to growl. Gawain was supposed to be a facet of his soul which meant the Persona embodied his character traits. He made a mental note to work on his violent tendencies if he wanted to make any new Social Links..

"_**Master?"**_

"…Shut up, Gawain."

"_**As you wish."**_

Most of Logan's day went without incident though he barely paid attention during class. His mind was elsewhere forming a battle plan as to how he was going to convince Jett to help him fight the Shadows. Jett was popular and, at least within the school, he was known to be fearless. But if the fight against the Brute the night before was any indication, his bravado was all an act and would probably crumble again if faced with a similar situation. Gawain offered a few suggestions of his own but Logan shot most of them down. He wanted to be on good terms with Jett in this endeavor, not come across as if threatening to skewer the boy on his Persona's blade.

"Mr. Martin!" Professor Tallow was not amused and he, like the rest of St. Yung's staff, hated daydreaming more than anything else. A few suppressed snickers wisped throughout the history classroom. Logan noted the number twelve floating above Tallow's head.

"Yes, professor?" Logan lazily answered. Tallow fixed the boy with a glare from over his spectacles and irritably shook himself out while smoothing out his sweater vest. The uncanny resemblance to the owl he kept at the back of the room made Logan laugh openly.

"It's painfully obvious that since you find this lesson so amusing, you've obviously read the course material?" Tallow venomously inquired.

"More or less," Logan replied with a noncommittal shrug. "Got a question for me?" Tallow visibly bristled as seen by his hair actually standing a little on end.

"As a matter of fact, yes, I do. Genghis Khan's army was unable to cross the ocean to conquer Japan because of what unforeseen event?" Tallow demanded. Logan stood up at his desk and stretched before answering.

"A tropical storm. When the Japanese found out about their ships, which were really kinda flimsy, getting destroyed, they attributed their safety to be because of the grace of the divine winds. Think they called them kamikaze?" A collective 'Ooooh!' resounded and Tallow was left steaming in his indignation. Logan smirked. He had the look of a slacker but when push came to shove, he wasn't a bad student. This instance, however, was that of total luck.

"_**Luck?" **_Gawain sounded a bit indignant himself as it was he who held the information when Logan decided only to skim the page.

"_Oh… right… Thanks, Gawain,"_ the boy thought grudgingly. _"Keep up the good work."_

"_**Hesitant to give thanks?" **_A smirk was obvious in the Persona's tone of voice.

"…_.Shut up, Gawain."_

"_**As you wish."**_

* * *

LUNCHTIME

* * *

Jett Mitchell was in his element. That is, he was in the lunchroom where a population of girls from all four grade levels was never in short supply.. Their chattering fell on semi-deaf ears as Jett let a lazy half smile grow from his mouth. Jett's eyes swept over the crowd and he picked out a girl at random; an attractive third year girl on the lunch line by the name of Sonia Barret. Silky chocolate brown hair and vibrant blue eyes all enhancing the natural beauty of her round face. Jett's smile grew a bit wider.

Target acquired. Initiating Flirt Mode.

He strode over with the utmost confidence in his skills and snatched up Sonia's hand faster than lightning to the shock and awe of the other students in line. Sonia, rather than get flustered like any other girl, put on a flirtatious smirk of her own and stared Jett down. A challenge. Jett liked a challenge.

"Sonia Barret. Third year. Member of the school's sword team. Damn hot," Jett listed off.

"Jett Mitchell. Second year. Resident grasshopper. Not too bad yourself, Romeo," the older girl countered with a coquettish wink.

"Grasshopper?" asked Jett.

"A boy who's hooked up with a lot of girls. Not that I'm one to talk myself but at least we're smart about it, no?"

"Oh, get a room," muttered an unnamed student. Jett and Sonia and Jett happily obliged and moved over to an empty corner of the cafeteria.

"So, listen, I'll cut to the chase," said Jett. "You, me, Friday night?" Sonia giggled and pretended to think with her hand on her chin.

"I dunno," she muttered, "my social calendar's kind of full for a while. Sword Club's gonna tear into my time, too…" Jett resisted the urge to frown and instead smiled slightly. "But, for you, I'll make an exception. Two weeks from now sound good?"

"Sounds great. I'll get back to you on the details." Jett flicked his hair and flashed Sonia a grin for good measure. See ya then, babe." Then Sonia did the unexpected and grabbed the back of Jett's head and a handful of hair to pull him into a kiss. Shocked, Jett reciprocated and was left dazed when they broke apart.

"Later, Romeo." With that, Sonia retook her place on line amidst the shocked gasps and titters of her friends.

"Damn," Jett said under his breath. "I am _good._"

"If you're done gawking at the third year girls, I'd like to finish that conversation we started yesterday," Logan drawled from behind his classmate. Jett whirled around, startled, and placed a hand over his heart.

"Jesus H. Christ, man!" he shouted. "Scared the hell outta me. Oh, yeah, we were supposed to talk about your super powers and all that. Come on, let's find a seat." They traipsed over to a random bench that another group of students was headed towards. Upon seeing Jett, they all smiled and beckoned the two over. Then they saw Logan's bored expression, scowled and went over to the opposite side of the cafeteria. Logan was unperturbed but Jett frowned confusedly.

"Do I stink?" he wondered aloud.

"No, it's cuz I'm with you," Logan explained. "My reputation precedes me."

"Hey, that was my line!" laughed the curly haired student. Logan shrugged and sat down to rest his chin in his palm. He drummed his fingers on the table and Jett looked expectantly at him.

"Alright, man, what's the deal? You mind explaining what that was all about last night?" he asked interestedly. "…Then again, I guess you know about as much as I do." Logan turned his gaze downward and thought about how best to approach Jett about the potential Igor said he possessed. He decided to start from what the Brute was and work his way up. Making sure that nobody would listen in on their conversation (there wouldn't be anybody as they were all absorbed in talks of their own that made the air drone with their buzz), Logan beckoned Jett to lean in.

"That thing last night - the big shadowy muscle man - was something called a Shadow. No, not like the ones we have when we're hit by light," he said quickly when Jett fearfully looked down at his own shadow. "They're like… Bad thoughts with bodies. And all they know how to do and want to do is kill the humans that made them."

"Dude…" Jett whispered as he took in the information. "Heavy… So, what, whenever someone thinks like 'I really hate this guy', one of those things is born?"

"No," Logan said with an uncertain shake of his head, "I think the thoughts have to accumulate or something. I'm not too sure about it right now."

"Okay… So Shadows are the enemy. Got it. That means that…knight that appeared whenever you shot yourself in the head is like a superpower or something used to fight them," Jett reasoned. Realization dawned on him a second later and he practically screamed, "Did you bring that gun to school?" Logan hurriedly kicked him under the table.

"Dumbass!" he hissed. Looking around, he saw that nobody had heard Jett's outburst and silently thanked the heavens. "You don't scream something like that out loud, especially not about someone like me! Are you stupid or something?"

"Sorry; sorry!" Jett apologized while rubbing his hurting shin.

"Besides," sighed Logan, "that gun's not a gun. 'S not even loaded; it's called an Evoker and I have to use it to call out Gawain."

"Gawain?" Jett asked skeptically. "What? You named that thing?"

"No, it came with one. Gawain is my Persona."

"Wait, wait, wait! We learned about this in Psych, right? You answered that question! Nice one, by the way." Logan raised an eyebrow.

"You're in my Psych class?"

"Duh. I sit, like, two seats away from you. But Ms. Fushimi said that a persona was a fake personality or something that people show to the world to help them deal. That knight thing -"

"Gawain," Logan corrected.

"Right, Gawain, was something totally different. What's the deal?" Logan sighed heavily.

"Get ready for this one…" Jett's attentiveness rose and he mimed zipping his mouth shut. "You're right about that but the kind of Persona Gawain is is something totally different. A Persona in this sense is the strength of your heart manifest. Kind of like a Shadow but it helps you instead of killing you. It's like your second self, there to protect you from life's hardships like a psychological persona. Only this one fights Shadows." Jett's eyes hardened to a serious stare and he hummed lowly as if in deep thought. Then he sighed and slammed his hands on the table, defeated.

"Okay, you lost me big time, dude. What about second selves and manifestations and what now?" Logan slammed a palm into his face and sighed. Longwinded explanations apparently didn't fly with Jett.

"Basically, this kind of Persona is like an imaginary friend with superpowers," he said shortly. "And guess what; you can use one, too." Jett's pupils shrank to the size of a pin.

"I have one of those crazy-ass knight things in me, too?" he nearly shouted. Logan's glare was enough to keep another outburst down. "What, do I have to shoot myself to call it?"

"Pretty much," Logan said with a shrug. "There's really no other way to do it from what I know. Besides, the shot doesn't even hurt cuz there's no_ bullets in the freaking Evoker!"_ he stressed. Jett forced himself to calm down with a couple of deep breaths. He looked at Logan suddenly serious and spoke slowly.

"So… I have a Persona, too… Does that mean I have to fight? Because I'm really not up to the idea of dying, Martin. You saw what that Brute thing from last night did and it's a wonder you're even still alive after the punches it hit you with."

"It's because I have a Persona that I survived. I don't think normal people could take getting punched by a fist the size of a wrecking ball and live," Logan reassured him.

"I still don't know…" Jett mumbled. Logan had to resist raising an eyebrow at seeing Jett lower his guard. It was a completely unexpected side of the skirt chaser that he'd never think to see. He actually looked vulnerable and afraid.

"_Kind of like last night,"_ Logan realized, _"only a lot less panicky."_

"If what you're saying is true, and it's hard not to believe it after pretty much witnessing it firsthand, then people are gonna die if nothing's done about these Shadow things… But…." Jett clenched his fist and teeth and screwed his eyes shut.

"You're afraid," Logan finished for him.

"Heh… Hard to believe, right?" Jett joked feebly.

"After hearing you scream your head off, no, not really." Logan allowed himself a small smile. "Listen, man, I get it if you don't want to do this. But think about it. I'll be waiting… Well, I dunno yet but I'll text you the details if you'll let me." He took out a scrap of paper and a pen from his pocket and wrote his phone number on it. Jett then messaged Logan his phone number.

"Call me if you change your mind." He turned on his heel and walked towards the exit. "Oh," he added, "and try to find a weapon." He didn't even need to look to know the startled look on Jett's face.

* * *

AFTER SCHOOL

* * *

'_Meet Theodore in the old cul-de-sac at the end of Thebel Street. 6:00 PM sharp. I assume you are familiar with the location. A weapon shall be provided for you upon your arrival. Best of luck. - Igor.'_

That was the text Logan received on his phone when he arrived at his empty house after school had ended. He messaged Jett about the time and place and, thankful that the house was empty, Logan marched into his room and retrieved his Evoker from the top shelf in his closet. He then got the metal briefcase from underneath his bed. He undid the clasp and once again beheld the seven remaining handguns. Sighing, he placed his own in the pocket of his uniform and took another for Jett , hiding that in his backpack.

"Wherever the hell I'm going, there's bound to be Shadows," he said to himself. "Just hope Igor's right about Jett or else I'll end up having to cover him the entire time or else he'll get seriously hurt."

"_**Or worse," **_chimed Gawain.

"Not funny, man!" Logan snapped at his other self. "He could seriously get killed out there!"

"_**I am merely pointing out a possibility we were considering,"**_ the Persona said impassively.

"That's got to be the longest sentence you've said in the time we've been together other than that 'I am thou' crap you said when you were born." Gawain chuckled and urged Logan to hurry and get going. Another sigh and Logan rose to his feet to figure out how best to spend the next few hours.

"_**I believe 'Fight Club' is showing on channel 128."**_

"That just proves you're me," said Logan with a smirk.

After locking up at half hour to six, Logan traipsed down Thebel Street with his hands in his pockets trying to look as nonchalant as possible. Thanks to the abundance of practice he had at that, it didn't take much effort to achieve total anonymity. Still, the half of him that was him was anxious about what the near future held for him. He knew very well the dangers Shadows posed. The bruise on his chest from the Brute's initial strike was proof enough of that. But the half of him that was Gawain was confident in that he would triumph; that he would tear down and rip apart anything that threatened him or those he cared about. Granted, that group of people was composed only of his family but the principle still stood. The earth-shattering pistol whip he drove into the side of the Brute's head was a testament to his new power.

The scenery changed the further down Thebel Street he went. It remained mostly as the same middle-class homes that lined the road until he made a right and headed towards the cul-de-sac. The houses steadily decreased in size and attractiveness until trees, some dead, some lush with life, once again dominated.

Eventually, he reached the cul-de-sac; a fifty-foot wide circle of pavement rimmed by abandoned and decrepit houses that nobody had lived in for ages. Logan surmised that there had to be a colony of raccoons living in at least one of them; that would explain why his trashcans ended up on their sides every Wednesday. Looking up, Logan realized that the trees formed a perfect leafy wreath around the burning orange sun in the sky.

"Cool," he noted, "but Theo's not here."

"You were saying?" the Velvet Room's bartender called from the top of the cul-de-sac. He beckoned Logan to him with one hand as his other was occupied with a duffel bag. "I didn't think you'd come."

"I'm scared outta my wits, Theo, but I'm guessing it's futile to try and deny this. The last time I did, a Shadow tried killing me and two other kids," rebutted Logan. "Why're we meeting here of all places?"

"For one thing, it's very secluded," Theo said logically, "but there's also another reason we'll get to shortly. I believe Master Igor informed you of the weapons we've prepared for you?"

"It was in the text, yeah," Logan answered, intrigued. "What've you got for me?" Theodore smirked and produced from his duffel bag two pile bunkers that were most definitely too big to have fit in there. They were pitch black and almost exact replicas of Gawain's arm shields except they were each the same size. Theodore handed them to Logan who donned them via the long fingerless gloves built into them. They extended a bit past his elbow and covered completely the back of his hand. In his palms were plungers that would come together whenever he clenched his fists. He experimented a few times and nearly let out a shout when the front tips of the pile bunkers shot out and retracted like miniature jackhammers. Intrigued, he tried it again and kept his hand closed and was pleased to learn that they were just that: miniature jackhammers.

"Sweet," he murmured with a grin. He could do some serious damage with these. "Where'd you get these?"

"Specially crafted for your use alone by myself and Master Igor. I see you are pleased?" Theodore allowed himself a smile of satisfaction. The pneumatics in the shields were his idea.

"You think?" Logan threw a few punches and finished with a right cross. The gauntlets were surprisingly light for their size but hard as rocks and wouldn't break easily. "The only things that'll take getting used to are the jackhammer controls but I think I'll manage."

"Dude?" Theo nodded his head towards Jett standing a few feet away holding a shopping bag from the bazaar. "Who's this dude and what are those on your arms?" Logan allowed himself a smirk.

"So you came. I thought you'd have stayed home, man. Oh, this is Theo, by the way. Theo, this is Jett Mitchell," he said. Theo bowed slightly in greeting. Jett shrugged and walked closer.

"Well, you pretty much saved my life back there and when we shook hands in the mall…" Jett rubbed the back of his curly black head sheepishly. "I don't know. I guess it felt like we kinda sorta became friends."

"Friends…?" muttered Logan. "What's in the bag?" Jett grinned and shook the bag loudly. A clanging rang out from within it.

"You said to bring a weapon. I went to that antiques shop in the bazaar and got these." Jett set the bag down and produced from within it two large silver rings with four spokes. The spokes extended past the main body of the weapon and were tipped with curved blades decorated with ornate golden vines carved into them.

"Chakram," Jett explained when Logan raised an eyebrow. "Except she said she modified these and real chakram don't have spokes. Something about aerodynamics but I wasn't paying attention these things looked so cool."

"Well, you've got the weapon," Logan said as he dug around his coat pocket for the other Evoker, "now you need this." He took hold of the handle and dropped it to kick it towards Jett's feet. The green-eyed boy put his weapons back in the shopping bag and picked up the silver handgun. Being kicked across the blacktop hadn't left so much as a scratch on it.

"I told you I didn't want a gun!" he said hotly.

"It isn't a gun," Logan and Theodore chorused.

"It does not have any bullets nor does it have any chamber in which to place a magazine. It is used to summon a Persona and nothing more," the bartender explained, slight annoyance in his voice. Jett seemed to calm himself a little.

"…You're sure?" he tentatively asked. "Because if you're lying -"

"I'm not," Logan cut in. "I may be a lot of things to the kids at school but I'm not liar. Just not my thing, man." Jett heaved a sigh and tucked the Evoker into his belt. He retrieved his chakram and spun one on his arm while glaring daggers at Logan.

"Look, man, I know I said we're cool but I know we're gonna be fighting. I'd rather not have anything happen to either of us and I'm not about to ditch you so… You got my back, I got yours?" The curly-haired sophomore smirked to try and seem confident but the momentary twitch the corner of his mouth did betrayed him. Logan walked forward nonetheless and took Jett's hand in a tight grip.

"Sure. Whatever, man," he said in his best attempt at a friendly tone.

"If your bonding moment is now over, I'd like your full attention," Theodore called. He beckoned the boys to him when they approached him, he began with the utmost seriousness, "It is now three minutes to six. When the clock strikes six, the Dark Hour, a phenomenon not seen in eleven years, will begin and this cul-de-sac will gain a new purpose under its influence. I must ask you both to please keep your composure when Dark Hour begins because the effects can be rather unsettling."

"Unsettling?" Logan asked.

"I really don't like the sound of that," Jett added, groaning.

"One minute to six," Theodore said tartly. He pushed his sleeve back to look at his rather expensive-looking wristwatch and began counting down from sixty. Jett looked towards Logan who bore a calm yet expectant look on his face and started taking deep breaths. This was not the time to freak out. At thirty seconds to six, he found himself wondering why he decided to come. At twenty, he began to get cold feet. At ten, he realized he'd hit the point of no return. His heart nearly fell through his stomach.

"Ten," Theodore muttered. The sun started shifting colors from orange to burnt gold and the sky started turning purple. A chill wind swept through the cul-de-sac making Logan zip up his jacket.

"Cold?" Jett joked.

"Shut up," laughed Logan.

"Five…four…three…two…one." Immediately, the world underwent a shocking transformation. Everything became enshrouded in a sickly deep green hue, even the sky above. The clouds turned coal black and stopped moving and the wind ceased to blow. Puddles of blood inexplicably bubbled up and oozed in random places on the ground and the trees were stripped of their leaves and became unnervingly thin. But the most disturbing thing of all was the sun in its leafy wreath above. It became a sordid bloody crimson and it now bore a corona of dancing flame clearly visible from Earth. Worst of all, it seemed to grow to nine times its usual size, casting its oppressive and harsh gaze down on the world. No heat came from it at all.

All was still.

"What the…?" Jett cried sharply. "What just happened?"

"Welcome to the Dark Hour," Theodore said as if he were welcoming the boys to a five-star hotel. "Please," he beckoned to an old style elevator lever that was most definitely not standing in the center of the cul-de-sac before, "choose your destination."

"There's only two settings," Logan noted. "'Up' and 'Down'."

"See, that doesn't make me very comfortable, Martin!" Jett shouted.

"I would please ask you to pull yourself together, Mr. Mitchell," Theodore soothed. "All is safe. Mr. Martin, please choose a destination." Logan approached the lever and, since it was already set to the 'Up' option, he had no choice but to choose the alternative. He pushed the surprisingly resistant lever down and a loud groaning sound like bending metal followed soon after. Dust rose up from the edges of the cul-de-sac as it started to descend further and further into the unknown.

"Dude, where the hell are we going?" Jett asked, his shivering shaking the voice he was fighting to keep even.

"Into uncharted territory," Theodore answered for Logan. "We have not yet found out our destination's true name but my master has given it the temporary name 'Rem'. You must be on your guard at all times; Shadows abound here." Logan cracked his knuckles expectantly and let out a breath.

"Well, then, let's do this thing," he answered.

"Why are there lights down here?" Jett asked suddenly. Looking around, Logan saw that there were indeed lights that passed by them the further down they went. They'd obviously gone down quite a ways.

"Are we headed to the center of the planet or something?" he asked Theodore with a skeptic look. Theodore chuckled in response and shook his head.

"Rem is an area much like the Velvet Room in that it exists between dream and reality. This elevator is merely a metaphor of sorts."

"You know, I really hate this cryptic shit, Theo. Can't you just give me a straight answer?" Logan ground out angrily.

"I wouldn't be able to even if I knew more about this myself," Theodore said apologetically. "Now, please face forward as we are about to touchdown. Logan and Jett did an about face just in time for the cul-de-sac turned elevator to settle into a very posh lounge with a red velvet interior and a few scattered chairs. A windowless door stared back at them as if daring them to open it.

"We've now reached the first level of the first layer of Rem," Theodore announced. "Your mission for today is to reach the fifth level while gaining experience fighting against the Shadows being an objective of equal importance. Master Igor has instructed me to give you these supplies as a precaution. Theodore rooted around in his magical duffel bag and handed Logan five blue tins that looked like they held breath mints and five small containers of an odd red liquid about the size of shot glasses. Printed on them respectively were the words 'Snuff Soul' and 'Medicine'.

"Uhm, thanks?" Jett said uncertainly. He pocketed the two Medicines and Snuff Souls Logan handed him and gripped his chakram tightly. "Well, let's do this."

"Best of luck," Theodore said. The door to the elevator opened and thick mist spilled into it. Logan and Jett ventured out as Theodore watched them be slowly consumed by the fog.

* * *

REM - FIRST LAYER: Transition

Level One

* * *

The first thing the boys noticed was the overabundance of the same mist present when the Brute arrived. It covered everything and made it hard to see past three feet in front of them while shrouding smoky silhouettes in the background. Logan waved his hand in front of his face and the mist thinned a little, revealing a landscape made up mostly of windowless skyscrapers with labyrinthine stairs on their outsides and trees twisted and warped into the most unusual shapes. Civilization met nature as a city road and dirt path melded and separated countless times. The sky above flickered in between night and day like a busted television set flits between picture and static and there was an impossibly long steam engine moving through the air like a serpent that seemed to be racing with a monorail. The sky acted as a mirror for the ground below it. That perplexed Logan until he saw the two trains plunge into it, making the surface ripple violently.

"The ocean…is the sky?" Jett asked. "Dude, we must be tripping balls."

"That's my line," Logan said flatly. He looked around and noted the eerie lack of movement or life. "Whatever. Let's just try and get to where Theo told us to go."

"O-Okay…" Jett fell into step behind Logan and made his knuckles go white from the death grip he kept on his weapons. "I thought you said there'd be Shadows here?"

"I did but so far I'm not seeing anything. Wish we had some support to see through this damn fog, though…" Logan's wish was inexplicably granted when all the fog pushed out to form a circle about half a football field wide from end to end. It seemed strangely familiar and became even more so when the atmosphere started to get thick and heavy.

"Aww, fuck… It's only been a minute."

_~Logan, I'm detecting several Shadows coming your way. Stay on guard~_ Theodore said within Logan's mind.

"Theo? Are you a Persona now, too?" he shouted to the sky.

_~No, I merely play a support role. Now look alive!~_

"Logan! Dude, it's more of those things!" Jett screamed. He backed up until he hit Logan's back and held his chakram up in front of him with the uncertainty of a novice. His eyes were wide and bulging with fear as the amorphous black blobs crawling towards them began to take shape. Most of them became nothing more than blobs with blue expressionless masks and spindly arms but a few took more varied shapes.

There were disembodied heads with long shaggy hair wearing magenta opera masks with the Roman numeral for two inscribed on the nose and large ornate crowns accompanying giant mouths with equally giant black tongues lolling out of them all attached to an eyeless pink and black sphere. All-black cherubs toting bows and heart-tipped arrows while sporting stark white diapers, wings, and pink masks with sad faces flitted around Brutes ranging from human sized to as large as the one Logan killed. Lastly, there were at least four Shadows with orange masks resembling Cyclops skulls for faces and drooling, fanged maws. Their upper bodies resembled those of gorillas while from the waist down, they possessed the spotted hind legs and tails of jaguars.

_~Cowardly Maya, Muttering Tiara, Slipping Hablerie, Brutes, and Wendigo Shadows. Jett, if you can hear me, I want you to try summoning your Persona. If you can't just attack normally. Logan show him the ropes~_

"Why's he sound so calm about this?" Jett shouted frantically as Logan dodged an arrow fired by a Cupid with inhuman speed and stomped on a Cowardly Maya's mask, shattering it and killing the Shadow. "Dude, how -?"

"Stop talking and summon already!" Logan barked. He produced his Evoker from his pocket without flourish and had no qualms about firing it at his head.

BANG!

Gawain appeared from nothingness, his sword-hand at the ready and did a spinning Cleave to drive off the approaching Shadows. Another gunshot and Gawain conjured a raging fireball in his shield hand and pitched it at a Wendigo. The monster wasn't dead but it was completely engulfed in fire and giving off a horrible sound like enraged grunting and the yowling of a cat.

Jett reached for his Evoker the second a Tiara Shadow burst at him and formed its ratty locks into claws to slash the boy with. Jett was barely able to dodge in time and retaliate by lopping off a decent amount of the Shadow's hair with his chakram. The hair turned to ichor when it hit the ground and Jett accidentally stepped in it.

"These are new shoes!" he cried indignantly.

"Duck, idiot!" Logan roared. Jett whirled around to see the burning Wendigo had leapt into the air above him and had its jagged nails poised at his throat. Jett cried out and brought his chakram up to defend himself and braced for impact. It didn't come, for Logan had commanded Gawain to block the strike long enough for him to get there when the Persona faded and punch the shadow in the face. Jett's jaw practically hit the floor when the Wendigo went rocketing back and through a tree.

"What the hell are you? Some kind of monster?" raved Jett. "That kind of power is unreal!"

"Would you stop crying about it and summon already? I can't take all of these guys on alone," Logan ground out. The Shadows started to form a ring around them and started slowly approaching like a pride of lions stalks a pair of gazelles. "At least attack." Jett gulped and nodded shakily as he took a battle stance.

A Hablerie was the first to break formation and target Jett with its man-sized jaws open and drool dripping off its incisors. Jett clenched his eyes and slashed at the Shadow with all his strength, cutting off the abomination's disgusting black tongue. As it melted into ichor, Jett reopened his eyes and took his chance to strike. He slashed at the pink-and-black striped Shadow's body and drew more ichor before he stabbed it in the underside and threw it back into the ring of Shadows. Having been still up until that point, the Shadows resumed their advance.

_~A little unpolished but it got the job done. Shadow's still alive, though~ _Theodore said dryly. _~Hurry up and summon!~_

"How?" demanded Jett. "With the gun thing?"

"It's pretty easy, dude; all you have to do is this!" Logan screwed his eyes shut and flinched at the loud gunshot. Glass blew out his head as Gawain arrived once more and skewered the Hablerie Jett attacked in the mask on the back of the sphere it called a body. The Shadow squealed in pain and exploded into ichor.

"B-But…" Jett whimpered. He looked for a way out of the ring of Shadows; an opening he could run though but he found none. The Shadows clamored around him raising a medley of shouts, screams, roars, and unidentifiable unearthly sounds. The empty eyeholes of their masks stared back at him and they themselves radiated pure bloodlust. Fear gripped him and forced him into its maddening arms and Jett began to panic. He fell to his knees, dropped his weapons, clutched his head and screamed,

"We're gonna die! We're gonna die! We're gonna _fucking _die! Logan, get us out of here!"

"Damn it, Jett!" He caught the Evoker Jett through at him and growled through his teeth. "Pull yourself together or we will die! We've been out here three minutes!"

"Doesn't matter! That's enough time to die in war and I'm too young, damn it! Get us out of here!" Jett raved. Logan knew it was no use trying to reason with Jett when he was in a state like this and was quickly running out of time as the Shadow's advance continued. He only had one option.

"_**Take the initiative into your own hands,"**_coaxed Gawain. Logan did the only thing he could and pointed the Evoker down at Jett.

"Hey!" he grunted. Jett shakily turned around and looked up at him with terrified green eyes. They shrank to the size of peas when he realized he was staring down the barrel of an Evoker and his body seized up. Logan pressed the summoning device to his new friend's forehead ignoring Jett's pleading look.

"Logan?" he whimpered. A green flame flickered to life above his school badge and Logan smirked. The Shadows were upon them now. It was now or never. Logan pulled the trigger.

_**BANG!**_

A hurricane of glass came out of Jett's head and promptly formed a spinning storm of shards that guarded them from the Shadows and even blew them back. Jett looked above him in awe as his Persona appeared. It struck Logan that Jett must've been undergoing the same 'rebirth' he had when Gawain was first summoned.

"_**Thou art I. And I am thou. Born am I from the passion in thy soul. I am Eros, Emissary of Love."**_

Eros spoke in a voice Jett could've possessed in ten years and wore a metal visor over his eyes that masked the entire top half of his face. The bottom half was covered by a thief's mask and short blonde locks whipped around in an unseen wind along with the long green tunic the Persona wore. Eros' legs were covered by beige pants down to the knee at which point, silver greaves covered his shins down to his feet which bore heeled men's shoes.

His uncovered arms were completely machine with large holes in the palms and smaller ones in the wrists where chains protruded and coiled around his arms only to stop halfway up his bicep. The chains then converged and wound around a metal winch placed between Eros' shoulder blades and surrounded by four immaculate white wings. In his right hand was a short sword presumably attached to the chains around his arms and in his left was a large morning star. When the imaginary wind died down, Eros' tunic became as rigid as a sheet of metal.

"That's…my Persona…" Jett dimly acknowledged. He got to his feet again and Logan pressed the Evoker into his hands before getting his chakram off the ground. The Shadows voiced their fear and indignation at having another Persona enter the fray and abandoned all prior planning to recklessly rush in headfirst.

"Time to make a move, Jett," Logan instructed, gripping his own Evoker. "What's it going to be?" Confidence surged within Jett as Eros efficiently installed himself into the boy's mind. With a flourish and spin, Jett pressed the Evoker to his forehead and grinned.

"Garu!" Eros reappeared in an instant and flapped all four wings at once to conjure up a bolt of wind under a Brute that literally pierced a hole in the Shadow from its groin up through its head. It fell limp to the ground and exploded into ichor.

"I'm liking this!" Jett shouted in victory.

"Heh," Logan scoffed. "Let me show you how it's done. Gawain!" Logan fired twice and his Persona materialized from the sea of his soul with a fireball in either hand. "Agi!" Gawain wasted no time and incinerated two Cowardly Mayas with his attack. The Shadows around them dispersed to fight their own battles while the Mayas lost form and started to turn into puddles.

_~Listen up!~_ Theo barked. _~Both Shadows and Personas have weaknesses to spells of a certain element. Those Mayas you just hit are weak to fire elemental spells, Logan, and Jett, the Tiaras are weak to wind spells like Garu. When hit by its weakness, the target will be downed, allowing you another strike~_

"Good to know, Theo," Jett said. He charged forward, startling Logan, and performed low upward slashes on the downed Mayas, killing them off for good. He then turned to a nearby Muttering Tiara and summoned Eros once more. The Persona congregated the air around him into his palm and infused it with green energy before waving his hand and sending a small green tornado barreling into the Shadow. While it was downed, Jett fired another Evoker shot and ordered Eros to use Bash. The Persona flung out the arm it held the morning star in and it shot forward, slamming into the Tiara and crushing it into ichor against a building. With a flick of his wrist, Eros reeled in the chain connected to his morning star and caught the spiked iron ball in his hand before disappearing.

"To think a few seconds ago, he was crying like a baby," Logan muttered amusedly.

_~The power of Persona will do that~_ Theodore noted. Logan was suddenly assaulted from behind by a Wendigo that forced him to do an about face before bringing both its hammer-like arms down on the boy. Logan blocked the blow with his shield and was able to maneuver well enough to end up holding the Shadow's fists at bay while its ravenous mouth snapped at him over and over.

"Jett, you alright?" he called without looking away from the Wendigo.

"A little! Get that thing and come over here! Oh, shit!" Logan heard the whoosh of fire that was the telltale sign of an Agi being cast. Unable to use his Evoker, Logan was forced to resort to physical combat. He pulled the Wendigo towards him by its fists and kneed it in the mask with strength he knew didn't belong to normal people.

The howling beast clutched its 'face' in agony allowing Logan slug it with an uppercut, jump, and pistol whip its face into the ground before driving his fist into the back of its floppy-eared skull and engaging the jackhammer and having them rapidly pound the Shadow until its skull split open. The Wendigo went limp and melted instead of exploding. Logan rose to his feet and wiped the ichor off his cheek indifferently before turning to the two Hablerie Jett was fighting.

"Jett! At the same time!" he commanded. He and Jett put their Evokers to their heads and called out their Persona's names at once. Eros and Gawain took form and slammed their respective blades into the Hableries' mouths before bisecting them and letting the halves of their jaws fall to the ground.

"Great," Logan said, shaking out his hands and looking around. "A few down, a few more to go."

"Bring 'em on!" Jett challenged. "I'm not afraid of them!"

"That's funny; I clearly remember you screaming like a little girl before Eros showed up," Logan deadpanned.

"…Shut up and fight."

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**Okay, that took a while. 22 pages. Enjoy, all.**


	4. Crash Course pt1: Battle

Persona Non Grata

**By:** Brave Soul RMS

**DISCLAIMER:** Only a few of the characters featured here belong to me (Grey and Juniper most prominently). The rest were loaned to me by their authors with express permission. The Shin Megami Tensei: Persona games are not my intellectual property, only a source of inspiration.

**WARNING:** See previous chapters for the warning.

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**Chapter 003: **Crash Course part 1: Battle

_~Alright, you two, listen up. It's time for a crash course in Persona~ _Theo instructed. Jett and Logan backed away from the Shadows as the living nightmares slunk away into the swirling fog. Their bodies were completely hidden but the terrifying auras they emanated were almost palpable. Logan was able to keep his cool but now that the post-summoning high had worn off, Eros' other half was fighting to stay calm.

"Okay, why do I not feel invincible anymore?" Jett shakily asked. "I mean, Eros is still here and I still feel him but -"

"No time for that. Focus," said Logan.

_~Thank you, Logan. Now, the Shadows have fallen back to their default method of coming in waves which means they've retained the ability to organize themselves when faced with strong enemies. The first wave should be the Mayas. Perfect learning opportunity.~_

Sure enough, the remaining two Cowardly Mayas slinked their way into view accompanied by a mass of swirling darkness that coalesced into another pair of the blob-like Shadows. They moved slug-like around the two boys like lions sizing up their prey. One violently lunged at Logan out of the blue and with its spindly arms caught his leg. Logan could feel the wound open as blood came from it but his pant leg was strangely untouched.

_~Be extremely careful. Mayas are wily little ankle biters and are easy to overlook when other, more powerful Shadows are present. Now, first things first: skills. Persona skills are divided into physical, magical, and passive categories. Physical skills use up your actual stamina and magical skills use spiritual power.~ _Theo said in a trained and even voice. Logan hastily sidestepped a Maya during the instruction and Jett actually leapt over another with near superhuman power.

"S-Spiritual power?" Jett questioned after he'd gotten over the shock of the height of his jump. He could've sworn he felt the very wind itself pool beneath him as he crouched launch him up and forward like a shot-put when he jumped. "Can we just call it SP for short?"

"Oh, I get it," Logan chimed in. "These flames above our school badges."

_~Call it whatever you wish. And you are correct, Logan; the flames are an indicator of how much SP you have remaining. As you become stronger, your SP and stamina will increase. Now, as Persona-users, you are able to attack and kill Shadows without having to summon your Personas. If a normal human attempted to take down a Shadow, it would no doubt end in abject failure. However, you're far too weak to physically kill anything more powerful than a Maya~_

"What about that Wendigo I - " Logan started in protest.

Without_ a direct hit to its mask~ _Theo asserted. _~Don't get cocky. Kill these Mayas and try it without getting hit before we move on to the next wave~ _Theo's voice disappeared from the boys' minds as he cut off their mental link. The Mayas gurgled hauntingly as if their throats had been cut and began to regroup.

"Okay, here's the plan. You take the two on the left, I get the two on the right. We meet back here when they're dead," he told Jett, speaking as if the current situation were as normal as going shopping. The landscape suddenly shifting, growing, and expanding into a castle courtyard gave more credence to the insanity of the situation.

"Alright… But how the hell are you so calm about this?" Jett incredulously asked. "You act like this doesn't even phase you."

"It doesn't," Logan responded tonelessly.

The Fool then raced forward and stopped short of one blue-masked blob in time to kick it in the mask and send it flying. He felt the mask crack as its body left the ground with a sound not unlike that of a suction cup being removed before the Shadow died. The other one clawed at his side and landed a solid hit, its nails like a metal rake against Logan's skin. Once again, his clothes were left completely intact.

Ignoring the pain, Logan focused in time to snatch the Maya's bony arm in mid-swipe. He cocked an eyebrow as the Maya rose up to his height, resembling a slimy black bed sheet ghost. The Maya wrenched its arm from Logan's grasp but that was all it could do before Logan decked it, kneed it hard in its new midsection, and ended his assault with a brutal uppercut. The Maya's mask cracked as it exploded into ichor and faded from Rem.

Jett was faring very well in his fight; better than Logan expected at least. He was fast enough not to get hit by the Maya's frantic and unpracticed attacks and strong enough to cut through the beings of darkness when they decided to make themselves taller. He lopped off an opponent's hand as it clawed for him and stabbed it in the back of its would-be head with the spoke of his chakram, ending its hollow existence. The other Maya caught him by surprise and held both of his legs down while its mask shot forward from the ground and headbutted him. Dazed and annoyed, Jett wrenched his leg free and stomped on his assailant's mask before he staggered backwards over to Logan.

_~How're you boys feeling?~ _Theo chimed in after the fight ended.

"That actually hurt me," Jett complained, rubbing his now bruised forehead. "Those masks are harder than they look but we can punch through them like tissue paper."

_~Only with Cowardly Mayas and Shadows that you will eventually outstrip in terms of strength.~_

"Explain why my uniform stayed untouched when that thing clawed me," Logan demanded. Secretly, he was happy that his uniform was okay. He only had one spare to speak of and preferred that he never have to use it. Up above in the erratic sky, the steam engine let out a thunderous whistle before diving back in. The Tiara Shadows decided to use that as a cue to hesitantly make their entrance from out of the fog.

_~In this world, you can choose what you wish to come into contact with. It goes both ways. Well, it does if the Shadow has some level of sentience~_

"That explains the trains, sorta," Logan deduced.

_~The Maya,~ _continued Theo,_ ~having a one track mind, only want to hurt your flesh and care not for your clothes. The same may be true of the Tiaras and Hablerie Shadows but the Brutes and Wendigos want all aspects of you dead.~_

"What a nice thought," Logan muttered. He put up his fists and readied himself for the next assault.

_~Not so fast. Grab hold of your Evokers; both of you~ _Theo barked. _~You won't be using your weapons because the next lesson is in skills~_

"I don't really think we need teaching on how to do something so easy." Logan then readied his Evoker, fired, and shouted for a Cleave attack. When Gawain appeared and with one swipe of his sword, ended one of the four Tiaras. When his Persona returned to him, Logan felt the familiar drop in his stamina come though on a vastly diminished level.

_~Kudos for being able to summon Gawain without any complications but class is in session and I expect you to listen~_ The bartender's voice left no room for humor. Logan muttered under his breath about uptight blonde people but listened nonetheless.

"Ha! You got told," Jett laughed. "WHOA!" A Tiara went straight for his throat with one of its needle-sharp locks of hair and he only barely dodged. If Jett hadn't almost died, Logan would've laughed openly.

_~I said pay attention! Now, these kinds of Shadows won't attack unless they hear loud enough sounds, so I suggest you whisper~ _That shut Jett up. _~Good, now, physical skills are divided into three categories: Strike, Pierce, and Slash. Gawain's Cleave skill is a Slash attack and Eros' Bash is a Strike move. Even your normal attacks have categories~_

"Okay, so with these thingies I'm a Slash type and Logan's a Strike type with his punches," Jett reviewed. "That have anything to do with Shadow weaknesses?"

_~Yes, but weaknesses to physical attacks are far rarer than magical weaknesses. Resistances to physicals are actually more common. Now, Jett, you have healing abilities. Use them~_

"How?" the curly-haired student whispered furiously. Logan growled loudly.

"You have an Evoker, Mitchell!" he snapped. "If you ask 'how' one more goddamn time - Holy hell!" Two Tiara Shadows raced up to Logan and tried skewering him in pincer formation. Luckily for him, Jett was able to tackle him to the ground and make sure he stayed alive.

"We're even," Jett whispered with a cheeky grin. Logan sourly got back to his feet and awaited further orders.

_~Nice moves, Jett. I don't think you'd have been able to heal that. Now, simply ready your Evoker, concentrate on Logan, say 'Dia', and pull the trigger. Logan, the sound will attract the Shadows so be ready to defend him while he heals~_

"I feel like I'm gonna have to do that a lot," quipped the sociopath.

_~Most likely. Now, I want you to use only your skills to kill these Tiaras but if you must, you may attack without them. Now, go~_

Jett put an arm through his chakram and retrieved his Evoker, spinning it on his finger while bringing it to his head. He stopped it as it touched his temple, it clicked, and with a loud shout of

"Dia!" and a deafening bang, Eros rose again and spread his arms out wide as if inviting one to embrace him. A soothingly cool energy reached Logan, restoring his stamina and filling his entire being before breaking off into concentrated bits and rushing to his wounds. It was an odd, slightly sickening feeling to feel his body making new blood cells and his skin knit itself back together but he wasn't complaining when his side was as good as new.

He then rushed in front of Jett as a Tiara attacked and blocked the ratty locks now in the form of a hammer. Gritting his teeth as the Shadow let out a rabid screech and pushed him back, Logan summoned Gawain to raze it with an Agi. The Shadow's enraged screeches became ones of agony, bringing a smirk to Logan's lips. He attacked again, belting the Shadow in the middle of its 'face' and sending it to oblivion.

"Logan, cover me!" Jett shouted, adrenaline pumping. He called forth Eros once more and ordered a Garu that was adeptly dodged by the next Tiara while its cohort went for Logan. Logan jumped in front of Jett and blocked as it tried to drive a hair-drill through Jett's chest and got a hair-hammer to the back for his trouble. Jett responded by cutting off the impossibly large amount of hair used to form the hammer and summoning Eros to fling his morning star into the face of the Shadow attacking Logan. It died in an instant allowing Jett to order two more Dia spells: one for him and one for Logan's now bruised back. Logan then rounded on the last Tiara and readied to call for a Cleave but Jett and Eros beat him to it with a miniature cyclone and a chakram slash.

"Sorry, dude, couldn't resist," laughed Jett. "Now that the adrenaline's pumping again, this sorta feels like a street fight."

"You've been in street fights?" Logan asked, skeptic. "You? Seriously?"

"A few. And for the record, you're a scary dude; the guys I fought were pansies." Logan allowed himself a chuckle.

_~Casual danger dialogue aside,~ _Theo cut in, _~I'd like to remind you two to watch your SP. If you run out of it, restore it with Snuff Souls but if you run out of those, then you've lost your most valuable method of attack against the Shadows. Check the flames on your chests~ _Logan noticed that his yellow flame had gotten slightly smaller since he'd started fighting but Jett's was more or less its original size.

_~Let that flame go out and you might as well surrender then and there~ _Theo said, the edge in his voice grim . _~And this is no street fight,~ _he chided Jett, _~this is real. Start treating it seriously or die~ _

Jett's smile dropped from his face and Logan looked as if he was fighting to bite back a smart remark as he produced a tin of Snuff Soul. Its contents resembled blue chewing tobacco but he popped it into his mouth and chewed nonetheless. A sweet juice seeped out of the chew until it was reduced to a dry wad. Logan swallowed the juice and felt a small spark of energy as his SP and his flame were restored to full capacity.

"Alright, let's get back in this."

_~Last lesson of the night, boys. Dark Hour ends in about thirty-five minutes~ _Theo said while the Brutes and Wendigos took the stage. _~I want you to perform an All-Out-Attack~_

"How do we do that?" asked Jett, all traces of joking gone. "These guys are the hard hitters and there are five of them."

"Three Brutes, two Wendigos," Logan clarified. The Wendigo Shadows let out guttural howls and started thundering straight for the boys on all fours while the landscape shifted to that of a flat savannah with the buildings still remaining. Ironically fitting, thought Logan.

"What's the plan Theo?" the boys chorused, fear rising. Before the Velvet Room's bartender could even open his mouth, the bestial Shadows were already upon them and ready to kill. Jett was lucky enough to pull off another super-jump and evade his Wendigo's ground-shattering punch but Logan received the full impact of a brutal bodycheck. The wind was forcibly pushed out of his lungs as Logan felt a rib crack and his body leave the ground only to be rudely stopped shortly after by one of the buildings.

He slid down from the small crater his impact made, clutching his side. The Wendigo gave him no time to address his injury. It now stood above him doubling its fists up and belting a gorilla and big cat's combined roar and suddenly everything moved as though through glue. The Wendigo's fists raced towards his head with every intent to cave his skull in.

Logan tried reaching for his Evoker but a jolt of pain from his side stopped him in his tracks. There was no way he'd be able to move fast enough to summon now. One blink of the eyes later and suddenly there wasn't any time for anything, not even a short scream.

The Wendigo had won; Logan was going to die!

"EROS!"

BANG!

Fueled by Jett's drive, the angelic Persona was between Logan and the Wendigo's fists with one beat of his wings, blocking the strike with one arm. Jett arrived shortly after, face set in mask of determination and heedless of the other Wendigo hot on his heels. As Eros faded, Jett faced the Shadow that had been moments from killing Logan, put all his power behind his legs and jumped up to slash the seven-foot behemoth's head horizontally in half. The Wendigo died in a blaze of ichor, leaving the other one to attack the unguarded Jett.

But as the remaining Wendigo charged its pot-sized hands with Agi spells, another Evoker shot was heard and Eros once again burst on the scene, throwing his short sword and running the hybrid beast through. Jett fired another shot and shouted for a Bash that Eros then executed by retracting the chain on his sword and palming his morning star, riding the chain's pull into close quarters and bashing his foe's face in with a sickening crunch.

Jett landed at that moment and ran up to Logan. He skidded to a stop, helped his friend up, and put his Evoker to his head to order a Dia. Jett's other half reached out to touch Logan's injury with a knuckle and forced healing energy into his ribs. Logan visibly winced at the feel of his bones realigning and repairing themselves. Having done what he could, Eros drew himself to full height, standing in all his regal glory as an unseen wind toyed with his tunic and Jett's hair.

"You alright, man?" Jett asked. He extended a hand to his friend with a wide grin.

"Yeah…" Logan mumbled aloud, stunned. He gratefully took Jett's hand and pulled himself up, wincing a bit at the pain left in his side. "Thanks…" Jett's grin grew wider.

"Don't mention it," he said while shaking an arm out, letting the chakram slide down his arm and catching it. "You would have done the same for me, right?"

**SMASH!**

_I am thou… Thou art I…._

_Thou hast established a new bond… It brings thee closer to thine answer._

_Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Fool Arcana._

The voices faded from Logan's mind but he knew they'd be back in no time once a bond grew deeper. Tucking that piece of information away, Logan came back to reality to realize that he was smiling. It was a bit of a foreign feeling, nothing like his usual sardonic smirk. It was a full blown smile, albeit a small one.

"That's what friends are for," Logan said. The words came easily to him. "I mean, I guess."

_~Are you boys alright?~ _The even tone in his voice convinced the boys that Theo was indeed unflappable. _~If you are, then listen up: All-Out-Attacks are simple because all you have to do is exploit the enemy's weakness. If you do that, you get a window of opportunity that allows you a second attack. If all of your enemies are knocked down, the both of you can rush in and attack as a unit. Understand?~ _Logan stood up and shook out his hands.

"You'd have to be an idiot not to get that," he remarked, balling his hands into fists. "What's the weakness on the Brutes?"

_~You should already know that~_

"Fire, then?" Logan gave an unnerving grin. "Good."

"Let's start the party," Jett suggested.

_~You've acclimated pretty quickly, Jett~_ Theo noted as the Brutes began their charge. A dull thud was heard as a pitch-black fist impacted Logan's shields and drove him into the ground like a nail. Logan could feel his legs rapidly weaken and buckle under the pressure, a sensation quickly replaced with his feet leaving the ground via uppercut. He landed heavily but managed to spring back up and out of the way of another punch to call for an Agi. Gawain merely pointed and a controlled explosion consumed the Shadow in its flames. Logan swayed as if drunk and fell back onto Gawain's leg for a split-second rest. Even after being healed, he was still growing more tired.

_~Could it possibly be because of the stress, Jett? They way you've adjusted, I mean. Fight or flight, eh?~_

Jett was thrown back by an elbow strike to the chest but managed to slow himself down by digging a chakram spoke into the ground. His opponent was on him in an instant. Jett weaved around the punch thrown at him and called for Logan to launch another Agi. As the Fool prepared his attack, Jett said,

"Are you kidding me, Theo? I'm scared the hell out of my mind right now!" A silence passed, momentarily filled by the rush of flames, as Jett quickly contemplated his situation. " I mean, sure, I guess that fear is what's making me act but I get the feeling if Eros weren't here, I'd have pissed my pants already."

_~The power of Persona is the strength of the heart, Jett. That you've adapted to summoning and battle so quickly only means that your heart is exceptionally powerful~ _Jett preened. Then he sliced the burning Brute's arm clean off, dug his weapons into its abdomen, and wrenched them upwards. While the Shadow was screaming in pain, Jett roundhoused it send sent it reeling to the ground.

"Critical strike!" he whooped.

_~But in terms of sheer ability, you are still a novice~ _Theo stated bluntly. Jett's face fell in indignation.

"What? But look what I just did! And you just said - !"

"He's right, Jett. This is only our first night," Logan's strained words cut in between heavy breaths. "Don't get ahead of yourself. Now, Agi…" Blue fog spilled out and swirled around Logan's feet as he put his Evoker to his head. His eyes flashed goldenrod and pure spiritual energy laced his voice as he barked,

"Gawain!" The Persona knight rose from the depths of Logan's mind, his entire arm ablaze. He tensed his arm and concentrated the magic into the jewel in his palm before slashing down and raining hellfire on the still standing Brute. With all three down in a pathetic heap, Theo gave the order.

_~Now's your chance: All-Out-Attack!~_ Logan and Jett let out twin battle cries and rushed at the pile of Shadows, slashing and punching and causing as much damage as physically possible to the Brutes before they got back up. Their assault was so ferocious, it kicked up a sizeable dust cloud that obscured the carnage. When it settled, Jett and Logan were left victorious and the Brutes were quickly melting out of existence.

"Nice!" Jett shouted happily.

"Didn't stand a chance." Logan coolly cracked his knuckles and turned to face the now cobblestone path that lead onwards. The fog dissipated and as it did, a large quantity of blue sparks burst to life and the boys' Personas manifested as if on their own. The sparks started to separate and flow into Gawain's hand and Eros' chest. When it ended, both boys felt a massive surge of power rush through them that made the flames on their chests momentarily grow into miniature infernos. The flames shrank back to manageable sizes, both slightly larger than before, and the same energy started incorporating itself into the boys' bodies.

"What was that?" Logan demanded. "It felt like… Like…"

"Like something inside me just grew and me with it," Jett finished breathlessly. "Did our Personas just -?"

_~You've just advanced in strength~ _Theo explained to the shocked boys. _~In layman's terms, you've leveled up. When you level up, your spirit power and stamina both increase but so do the powers of your Personas. You even gain new skills.~_

"Tarukaja," blurted Logan. The word had suddenly burst into his mind and forced its way out. "The hell?"

_~New skill~ _Theo grunted. _~Now that that's over, continue on the path until you find a set of stairs or an elevator or a door that will lead to the next level. Try to eliminate any Shadows you come across but if you see any that you think outclass you, stay very clear of them~_

The boys moved at a quick pace making quick work of the Shadows that appeared before them. Curiously enough, that group was made up mostly of Mayas so it wasn't much of a challenge nor did the experience yield make any sort of impact on their strength. After five straight battles, Logan decided it was time to end the battles for the night. His entire body ached like never before and judging from Jett's heavy breathing, the curly haired teen was in a similar state. Their pace was slowed accordingly.

"Something about this place is off," Logan said under his breath. His eyes scanned the sky above and the towering skyscrapers that rose towards it. The landscape shifted to that of a deserted grassy nighttime road with a full moon present as the only light. Not a star was in the sky. The buildings remained in their places.

"Like what?" Jett asked. "Other than the fact that everything here wants to kill us and two trains are playing tag in the sky that's also the ocean?" Logan silenced him with a glare.

"That," he conceded after a few seconds, "and the fact that no matter how much the background changes, the skyscrapers still remain here. I have a feeling it means something."

_~Master Igor believes that this layer of Rem and all those subsequent are visual metaphors for the various sleep and dream theories~_ Theo put in.

"Like, psychology and stuff?" asked Jett. "I think Ms. Fushimi said something about it before."

"Activation synthesis," said Logan.

"…You lost me," answered Jett.

"Pay attention in class," Logan reprimanded him. "Activation synthesis is a dream theory that says dreams are just random electrical signals our brains give off when we sleep that they then try to make sense of. Guess that explains why the scenery always changes." Logan scratched his head in thought and led Jett through a winding path in the city. "Doesn't explain the city or why the sky is so weird."

"Hey, you're pretty smart, man," Jett said with a smile. Logan shrugged.

"I just pay attention sometimes. I got lucky is all."

_~The city we have yet to explain~_ Theo admitted, _~but the ocean-sky is probably some kind of metaphor in and of itself. If you can figure out why, we may come a bit closer to solving this mystery~_

"Problem for another day," Logan said dismissively.

_~Quite~_ agreed Theo. _~The Dark Hour is about to end, so, let's make this quick. Logan, take your next right to the elevator in the clearing and take it down. After that, we'll call it a night.~_

The boys continued on in near silence, only speaking whenever either of them had a question to ask Theo. Logan could practically feel Jett's uneasiness under his confident exterior and couldn't help but wonder: Was because of the Shadows or was it just Logan's presence? He faintly recalled Jett being rooted to the spot in terror the first time he summoned Gawain.

"_Maybe it's that?"_ he wondered. He shook his head out in frustration. _"Wait… Why do I care?"_ Dismissing the thought, he eventually led Jett into a circle of buildings that housed an elevator shaft extending straight into the sky before it went too high to see.

_~Your way out~ _said Theo. _~For now, ride it down to the next level~ _Logan did as instructed and waited in unseen anticipation while the elevator made its slow descent.

"Think there'll be more Shadows?" Jett asked, obviously scared despite his macho grin. Logan's response was a grunt. The elevator shook and rattled to a stop and the doors opened with a nearly inaudible hiss. Before Logan and Jett was a wide circular room lined in red velvet with two posh chairs sitting at a square table. At the forefront of the room stood a single door with elegant writing on it but it was too far away for either of the boys to read.

"Just like the elevator room at ground-level," Logan noted.

_~A near exact replica. Approach the door, Logan, and I'll tell you what you need to do next~_ Jett had already walked over to the door and was reading the name inscribed on it, strangely thoughtful.

"'Aria M.'," he read. "I feel like I should know who that is."

"Well, do you?" prodded Logan. Jett thought for a while before throwing his hands up in defeat and accidentally launching a chakram into the room's ceiling.

"Oops… And, no, sorry. I've heard the name before but I can't match a face to it." Logan grunted.

"Well, Theodore?" he said to the air. "I'm waiting. What's this door for?"

_~That is a door leading into the dreams of Aria M.~ _Theo took a moment to let his statement sink in. Logan's eyebrow disappeared into his hair and Jett had a similar expression on.

"Her… Her dreams?" he asked with apprehension. "But how?"

"This world _is _a big dream metaphor," Logan contested, "so why not? But I don't get why we need to go into her dreams."

_~She's a victim of Apathy Syndrome~_ Theo stated bluntly. _~That means she's probably in a hospital bed right now while doctors fight to 'cure' her. But they can't. Only you can~ _Theo paused for a moment.

"…Well?" asked Jett.

_~I was waiting for you to ask how…~_

"Awkward," said Logan.

_~Anyway… Apathy Syndrome victims have been attacked by Shadows that proceed to worm their way into the victims' minds and make themselves stronger by essentially leeching off their host. There's a ten-day time limit before the victim wakes up from their coma completely unmotivated, at which point they won't do anything and will eventually die. Before that happens, you must enter Aria M.'s dream and kill the Shadow within her. Make sense?~_

"Perfect sense," Logan answered.

"All things considering, I guess," replied Jett.

"We'll start tomorrow night. It'd be suicide to go in there now of all times," Logan reasoned. He leaned forward, putting all his weight on his tired knees. The right one was still sore from when he kneed the Maya. "We're both exhausted right now…"

_~Agreed. Tomorrow, then. Take the elevator up and get a good rest, boys. You did well~_

_

* * *

_

Rietta groggily rose from a long nap. Through her hazy thougts, he faintly recalled contemplating something in particular before falling asleep… Those two boys from class and that….

Thing…

The thing that had attacked them in the parking lot of the hospital and the dark knight that was summoned when Logan shot himself in the head. Rietta cringed at the memory. Logan must've fired at least seven times. How he didn't once flinch at what Rietta guessed to be the feeling of a bullet piercing your skull was unnerving. Almost unnatural, even. Up until that night, Rietta hadn't given Logan and Jett so much as a passing thought but since the attack and Aria's sudden fall to Apathy Syndrome, they were all she could think about alongside recent events.

Apathy Syndrome. Her sister contracting it and her subsequent coma.

The shadowy monster in the parking lot.

Logan and Jett.

None of it made sense and Rietta hated that. She lived a life where everything always made sense to her; a world of hard facts, evidence, and logic. Rietta couldn't help but think that, however faint, there was some kind of connection between these things but the more she thought about it, the more it failed to make one single iota of sense. For all her intelligence, she couldn't think of an explanation that wasn't totally farfetched. It was a wonder to herself how she was able to stay even remotely stable after almost meeting death at the hands of a Shadow.

She sighed deeply. There was just no cracking this mystery. Rietta lifted herself from her bed and stretched as she walked over to her bedroom window and found herself questioning for a split second why everything looked so different. The blood red sun hung low in the emerald sky and a bone-chilling breeze pushed through. A sense of familiarity and fear overtook her. Rietta knew this world, so different from the one she lived in. A world she hadn't visited in a long time. A foreboding world of silence. Mystery. Insanity.

Dark Hour.

"It's back again?" she whispered in disbelief. "But I thought… In 2009, it disappeared but now I'm back here again…? You've got to be kidding me." No matter how long it had been since she'd experienced it, Rietta was highly familiar with the Dark Hour. Even now, after nearly a decade, nothing had changed about it. She knew now that something was afoot and that Logan was somehow part of it. The Dark Hour wouldn't return for no reason at all.

A purple flame sputtered to life above her chest. Rietta sighed in resignation. This was just like last time.

"I wonder how I can kill an hour…" She put on her shoes and decided to go outside and investigate. She had to know more about all of this. Maybe the key to curing her sister was somewhere within this hidden time and, no matter how slim the chance, Rietta had to go look for it. If not for her sake, then for Aria's.

"I'm afraid," Rietta muttered dimly to herself, "and I don't know why I'm even going out to look, but… It feels like someone's calling to me." She shook her head determinedly. "I have to know more."

And with that, she boldly descended her stairs, passing the Transmogrified forms of her parents and shuddering a bit and feeling her confidence dip a little. Pushing the images of the black coffins out of her mind, she pushed forward into the dead quiet of the Dark Hour and felt strangely at peace. Somewhere in the farthest reaches of her thoughts was born an infant presence, waiting to be released. That night, a flower bloomed in the sea of Rietta's soul.

* * *

**Part two coming soon.**

**

* * *

**

**PROGRESS TRACKER**

**Logan Martin**

**-Lv2**

**-Fool Arcana**

**-Pile Bunkers**

** GAWAIN**

** Str - 8**

** Mag - 6**

** End - 10**

** Ag - 7**

** Luck - 5**

**-Agi**

**-Cleave**

**-Tarukaja**

**

* * *

**

**Jett Mitchell**

**-Lv2**

**-Lovers Arcana**

**-Chakram**

** EROS**

** Str - 7**

** Mag - 7 **

** End - 5**

** Ag - 9**

** Luck - 15**

**-Garu**

**-Dia**

**-Bash**

* * *

**SOCIAL LINKS**

**Fool Arcana - Rank 1**

**Lovers Arcana - Rank 1**

**-Jett Mitchell: Popular boy at St. Yung and a real womanizer. Has a good heart and is seemingly very loyal to his friends. Easily scared under enough pressure.**


	5. Crash Course pt2

Persona Non Grata

**By:** Brave Soul RMS

**DISCLAIMER:** Only a few of the characters featured here belong to me (Grey and Juniper most prominently). The rest were loaned to me by their authors with express permission. The Shin Megami Tensei: Persona games are not my intellectual property, only a source of inspiration.

**WARNING:** See previous chapters for the warning.

* * *

September 12th, 2020

MORNING: Martin Residence

* * *

**Chapter 004: **Crash Course part 2: Start A New Day in the Life

Ow. Ow. OW! Why does getting out of bed hurt so much?

Dear god, I can't remember the last time my body ached this bad. Sixteen years and I've never felt this kind of pain. And I think my ribs are still messed up… Theo had said that the Dark Hour itself would drain me and that fighting in Rem would make it worse but I never thought he meant, 'Hey, Logan, you're gonna be fighting for a good hour or so and when you get out of the Dark Hour, it's gonna hurt like a bitch to move!'. Stupid blonde son of a…

That and my head hurts from thinking so much. All of this dream shit regarding Rem would put Nobel Prize winners in stress-induced comas.

Comas… Side effect of Apathy Syndrome…

Caused by being attacked by Shadows…

Wait, how did Aria M. even get attacked by a Shadow in the first place? Is she maybe another Persona user or did the Shadow appear outside of Dark Hour like that Brute? And if she is a user, why didn't she just kill it? Maybe she didn't have an Evoker or a weapon or -

AAAAAAUGH! I'm gonna kill something if I have to think about this anymore!

"_**Calm yourself. Getting angry doesn't solve anything,"**_said my own voice in my head.

"Fine, Gawain. You're right anyway," I gave in. "Let's just…focus on getting out of bed." Hesitantly, I braced myself on my bedside table and slowly swung my legs out of bed. Once I got them on solid hardwood, I tried standing up. Big mistake. I fell flat on my face once my legs buckled.

I can't even stand up on my own anymore. Just great.

"Logan!" Oh, great, Riri's mad. Perfect way to start my day: unable to stand and getting yelled at. "Why are you taking so long to get ready? Your eggs are getting cold and if you think you're gonna skip out on eating breakfast, you're an idiot!"

"It's not like I want to take this long!" I yelled back. "My legs are kind of weak right now!"

"You little pissant! Talk back to me again and I'll give you something to cry about!"

"Love you, too, big sis. Thanks for the support," I ground out as I tried standing again. Okay, we're stable. Now… Just take one step forward a-

THUD!

DAMN IT!

"Rielle, leave your little brother alone," Mom's voice said, laughing. Good old Mom. Always has my back. "If he's tired, he's tired. He'll be out soon, right, honey?"

"Yes!" I called back. "Thank you, Mother."

"You're lucky Mom was here, Logan. Next time…" She cracked her knuckles for emphasis.

"Oh, shut up. At least I don't mooch off Mom." Silence. Ha! I win. Logan: 1, Riri: zip. I was wrong; today's gonna be a good day.

After a very awkward shower and having (messily) gotten dressed, I forced my jelly legs to take me into the kitchen for breakfast. I plopped down in the chair in front of my plate of eggs and ate faster than I've ever eaten before. I didn't realize how hungry I was until I sat down. Even after finishing, I was still hungry. Jesus, what the hell kind of place _is_ Rem?

Wait. No. Don't think about it. For your sanity, Logan.

"You're certainly ravenous today," Mom commented. I shrugged in response.

"Long day yesterday. I was out."

"Out?" Oh, damn, I forgot how nosy Riri is. Damn it, Logan, just damn it. "Out with who? Girlfriend?" Wipe that smirk of your face, woman. Don't think I won't wrestle you again.

"No," I grunted in annoyance. "Not a girlfriend. Just went out. That Jett kid from the other day; he and I are cool now so we hung out in R-" Shit. Forgot I can't let them know about Rem. "Rex's Pizza Shack at the food court." That was a pathetic save.

"Hm. Alright, then." Riri shrugged and went back to her egg sandwich. Oh, my God, it worked? Sweet.

"I think it's nice you're finally making friends, Logan," Mom smiled.

"Wouldn't call him a friend yet," I said. "More of an acquaintance. He's totally girl-crazy."

"So a horn dog," Riri said.

"Basically."

"Well, I'm confident you'll become better friends as time goes on." She smiled. Mom was always the optimistic type. The frizzy brown-haired, baggy clothes wearing, yoga-teaching optimistic type. But she was still my mom. "By the way, your father's coming home soon from his business trip. He said he got you something."

"Did he say what?"

"No, but he said it's special. I think he's trying to make up for not being here over the summer." Good luck, Dad, it'll take a lot to make up for that. I didn't say anything and neither did Mom or Riri so I guess they got the message. I looked up at them when they weren't and saw more numbers above their heads. Two above Mom's and nineteen above Riri's. So they have Arcana too? Alright, but I just wish there were a picture of the card or something above their heads so I'd know what Arcana matched the numbers. Hey, wait, where's Coco? And what's her Arcana?

"Where's Coco?"

"She headed off without me. Something about wanting to see Matt before school," Riri said through a full mouth. A piece of egg spilled out.

"Real attractive, sis."

"Shut up, runt."

"Kids…" Oh, crud. Her 'mom voice' came out.

"Sorry, Mom," we chorused.

"Alright, well…" I got up and grabbed my bag, almost falling over in the process. So much pain… Don't show it… Good, we fought it off. I'm starting to hate my job.

"I got to get to school. See you later." I snatched Riri's eggs off her plate and bolted as fast as I could without my legs failing me. She screamed something but I didn't hear it once I shut the door behind me.

It's fun messing with your sister.

THUD! The ground… It hurts. My legs…so weak… Note to self: Karma's a bitch.

* * *

St. Yung Private High School

Courtyard

* * *

Also, school is a bitch. It really is. Especially at seven in the goddamn morning. Whose idea was this, anyway? Well, at least it's within walking distance of home.

When I got there, most of the kids were just hanging around on the front lawn talking and socializing in their cliques. I hung around leaning against the pillars holding up the school sign. Taking a look around, there wasn't much to see and nobody I knew. Then again, I don't really know anybody besides Jett and even that's a stretch. I did see Roux, though.

Roux…

Man, is she hot…

"_**Focus."**_

Shut up, Gawain.

"_**Eros, two o'clock."**_

Huh? Eros?

"You mean Jett?" I asked him.

"_**Affirmative."**_

Gawain was right, though I can't figure out how the hell he was able to see from inside me. Leaning back on the bench was Jett, his bag dropped on the still-wet grass and talking to one of his fangirls. The one with the really annoying, high pitched, squeal of a voice. Remind me to rip out her vocal chords.

..Whoa, Jett just made her leave. Did that seriously just happen? I thought dude was 'all about the ladies' or some shit. Jeez, someone call the President; this is a sure sign of the apocalypse.

"_**He seems to be thinking."**_

Jett doesn't think, Gawain. He acts on hormone impulses.

"_**You give him much less credit than he deserves."**_

Until he starts proving he isn't a total horny bastard, this is all he's getting from me. That and when his knees stop shaking in Rem. It's kind of pathetic.

"_**Harsh."**_

Whatever.

…Eh, might as well go see what's on his mind. He saw me coming and immediately stood up straight, eyes a bit wide. He must be scared of me or something cuz that's the same look he had on last night.

"Yo," I grunted.

"Insane," Jett muttered to himself. I cocked an eyebrow.

"Excuse me?"

"No!" he said at once. "N-Not you, man. Just… All of what happened last night was completely insane. Like a drug trip or something. And, yet…" Jett took a deep breath. "And yet, I know it happened and I'm weirdly okay with that, but…" He trailed off, immersing himself in his memories.

"But what?" I pressed. There was a pause as he thought of what to say. I gotta say, the face he makes when he thinks is hilarious. His tongue's all sticking out and he scrunches up his face like he's constipated. Man, do I wish I had a camera.

"It's like, I can remember stuff from last night clearer than stuff from my own childhood." Again, eyebrow cocked. "Like, the landscape changing and stuff. Eros and Gawain and the Shadows and those funky trains that fly. Like I'm watching it on that new HDTV Olivia got in her bedroom."

So that's not just me? I thought it was weird that whenever I revisited those memories, I could remember and replay them like on TV or something. It was almost photographic. Maybe Jett's smarter than I thought. Maybe girls aren't all he thinks about.

"_**Told you so."**_

Shut up, Gawain.

"Dude, remind me to schedule her for another date!" Jett shouted with a grin. "There is no way in hell I'm passing up watching the next soccer game on that thing."

…You stand corrected, Gawain.

"_**Shut up, Logan."**_

"Are you some kind of idiot?" I asked. "You've got something more important to do than dating a girl for her TV."

"But it's such an awesome TV!" Jett countered. "Seriously, you need to see this thing, Logan."

"Focus!" I snapped, earning the attention of one or two passing kids. I dropped my voice to a whisper. "Don't you think you should be focusing on the Dark Hour?"

"I guess so… But I kind of don't want to." He looked down at his lap and his voice sounded a bit sad. Great, Logan, just great. You're supposed to make friends not yell at people! I backed off and sighed.

"Still a little shell-shocked, huh?" He nodded. ….Damn, what do I say next? "If it were anything else you were talking about, I might have called you a chicken." …It's a start, I suppose… Jett shrugged it off and pointed to the school.

"Bell's about to ring," he said. "We can talk while we walk." We entered school with a drowsy silence punctuated by a yawn or two between us. Guess he's as tired as I am.

"I don't know anymore," Jett finally sighed when we reached the. He slouched against the wall next to the door to the main office, not caring that his shirt and jacket were getting wrinkled. I resisted the urge to shout. Respect the uniform, damn it. Just… Respect it!

"I thought about it and it's like when I'm in there, I'm not scared at all; I'm in the moment. But when I'm out here, it's like 'what the hell happened last night?'." He clutched his head in one hand and growled at me.

"What the hell did you drag me into, Logan?"

"According to Igor, I didn't do anything," I said bluntly. Hey, it seriously wasn't my fault at all. "Igor said that you basically don't have a choice. It's destiny or some other mystic crap he was talking about. You and I didn't have a choice in this and neither do about six or seven other people. I forget how many Evokers are left."

I started off for the stairs but Jett threw out an arm and basically clotheslined the wind out of me. Son of a bitch, I did _not_ know he was that strong! Oh, god, I think he hit a rib. Don't show pain…

"What?" I asked when Jett gave me this weird, inquisitive glare for all of two seconds before he frowned. He looks weird all serious and - Hey, where is he taking me!

"Dude, what -?" He pulled me away from the crowd - slamming me against random people, might I add! Wow, I did not know that little freshman girl knew a word like that. - and into a back stairwell nobody uses this early in the morning. Uncharacteristically serious, he put the most careful tone in his voice as he could and spoke slowly, like he was dreading something.

"You never said there were other people." Oh. Was that it? I yawned, uninterested. And he made such a big stink of it, too.

"You never asked. What's it matter?"

"Well, if there are other people with this power," Jett began slowly, trying to put the pieces of the obvious together, "then that means they'll have to come into that world with us, right?"

"That's the general idea," I said. "Where are you even going with this?"

"I don't know yet, give me, like, ten seconds!" Jett hissed. I raised an eyebrow and smirked. Obviously, Jett wasn't used to having to think this hard about anything. It was actually pretty funny to see him pace back and forth with a hand to his chin and a serious expression. Kind of a detective from one of those black-and-white films. Finally, Jett stopped and cleared his throat.

"So they'll have to learn everything we were force-fed last night, right?"

"Yeah."

"And fight?"

"Again, yeah." Jett sighed uncomfortably at the grim scenario that must've formed in his mind.

"What if they get killed?" he questioned hesitantly. "I really don't think a Dia will fix everything."

...

Shit. He just had to bring that up.

And here I had finally gotten to ignoring it, too...

"Well…" An awkward, uncomfortable silence passed between us with Jett looking at my face for any sign of an answer. Jeez, just how desperate is he for one? If there is a God, he's a sick bastard for putting me in this situation and holding off the bell!

…I got nothing. I seriously can't say anything that'll make him feel any better about this… Logically, he's got more than a valid argument. I felt myself shift uncomfortably. Social ineptitude can blow me.

"They'll adapt," I finally said. "You did that and managed pretty quick."

"Yeah," Jett said with a nod. He shuffled next to me and leaned against the wall, flexing his hand.

"I remember that. And when we go back tonight, I can do it again," he said more to himself than to me.

"Jett…" He clenched his fist. I swear, his wind powers must translate to outside of Rem cuz I just felt the atmosphere get thicker. …Not thicker, more serious. Damn it…

"But what if the new guys can't do that?" I rubbed the back of my head and sighed. So many questions I can't answer!

"_**Why not just say what we're feeling?"**_

Say what we're…? Oh. Now I understand.

"I have a feeling that…" I stopped to find words. "Once you awaken to Persona, there's, like, an instinct born that lets you know how to fight. I mean, I guess. That's how it felt for me."

"Same for me," Jett answered. I shifted his gaze to the floor.

"Do you have to make this so freaking difficult?" I dared a look back up at him. Poor sap must be frowning so deep right now and - IS HE FREAKING SMILING?

"Oh, yeah, I forgot; you suck at this stuff, right?" Jett nudged me with his elbow, face split open in a grin. You son of a bitch! You start a topic like that and then you have the nerve to grin about it! I'm gonna kill you!

"_**He's the only one that can heal you."**_

I'm gonna kick your ass!

"Yeah, I know, it's hilarious," I spat. "Where's the serious face you just had on?"

"It left because I think you might be right about that theory of yours. Before Eros, I couldn't do shit. After him, I'm kicking ass left and right and saving your life!" He put his hands behind his head and grinned wider, relishing the memory. Oh, shut up about that. Freaking…

"Exactly. So what the hell are you so worked up about?" I drawled. I started moving towards the door. As far as I'm concerned, this conversation's over. "Just keep doing what you're doing and you'll be fine."

"Yeah, but, dude," Jett began.

"Dude nothing, Jett!" I've had enough of this. Time to bail. "Let's just not talk about this. We're both tired. We're going back into Rem today so take a nap or something when we get out of school." There was a silence, and then the bell rang. Thank God.

I looked at Jett and he looked like he wanted to say something - anything to voice an opinion or worry - but clammed up at the last second. Good, looks like he knows who's boss.

…But I should toss him a bone…

"Trust me here, Jett. We're getting stronger and we'll just keep it up," I said. There, that's a big enough bone.

"Quit being such a baby. You've got a Persona now."

And on that note, I am outta here. He can think about that all he wants; all I know is I got a job to do. The quicker I save the world, the quicker I go back to the way things were and - THUD!

DAMN IT! My legs aren't even that weak anymore! The fuck did I just trip on?

Oh, that mousy-haired girl. Why the fuck was she kneeling next to the door to the stairwell? I looked down at her and must've looked pissed cuz she was shivering like a wet cat. She took a few steadying breaths, stood up suddenly and stared me down with fire in her eyes. Oh, bring it, bitch; I need a new punching bag.

"_**Harsh."**_

Shut up, Gawain!

"You!" she squeaked and pointed at me with a quivering finger. Huh. Not so much backbone after all.

"Yeah, what?" The girl flinched but rebounded in, like, a second.

"Y-you… What…?" her voice dropped to a whisper.

"What do you want? I have to get to Math class."

"I was following you since school started…" So you're a stalker. "What…? What are you to Jett?" she forced out.

...

...

...

She did _**NOT**_ just imply what I think she just implied. I think my eye's twitching. Yep, it's twitching. That's weird; I know I'm mad but suddenly I've got this urge to kill something.

"_**Kill her."**_

That explains it.

"No." And then I got the hell out of there as quick as I possibly could without running. Somehow, I get the feeling I'll be seeing that girl again.

"God-freaking-damn it," I seethed. "That's it; next time we don't use the stairwell."

* * *

I think I figured out exactly what it is I hate about History class. One, it's a boring subject. Two, freaking Tallow teaches it. He's this pale, lanky jerk-hole with black and white hair that he slicks back with, in my opinion, way too much gel and these really small hawk-like eyes. And he can freaking see everything in the room, too.

"Thomas, bring that game up here." And this really, really bored-sounding voice. Jerk doesn't even teach us anything. He expects us to learn it on our own but the textbooks are from 2006. The kid he called out for gaming in class walked up to his desk to the laughter of the class with a surly look in his eyes. Or at least what I could see of them due to the glare from his glasses.

Kid was lanky like Tallow but about three inches taller. Black hair, hazel eyes and, sweet, he modded his school jacket with a white hood and made it longer. Kinda tan, too. It's the middle of September; how the hell…?

"_**The increase in perception is almost palpable."**_ Gawain sounded almost proud.

"Thomas, when are you going to learn that what I have to say is important?" Tallow said. Then he yawned. Oh, yeah, _that'll_ totally get your point across, Tallow. Hypocrite.

"You don't _say_ anything," the kid shot back. Wow, there's a lot of anger in that voice. Though, I really can't talk. Actually, it's more like…

"_**Spirit?"**_

Yeah, that's the word.

"All you do is sit here for an hour and tell us to read and then when someone fails a test, you tell them to study harder. A teacher should teach, not sit on his ass and do nothing and _still_ get paid!" Judging from the wave of murmurs his little speech induced, I wasn't the only one who thought Tallow sucked as a teacher. This kid has got guts. But it's gonna cost him.

"Detention. One week," Tallow said in that bored sounding drone of his. "Now get back to your seat, Grey." Grey did as he was told but he wasn't happy about it at all. Wonder what's eating him…

"_**You do not remember? He's been like this since the beginning of the year."**_

How do you know that?

"_**I am thou. And thou art I."**_

Oh, yeah. But, wait, that still doesn't fully explain -

"Martin!" Oh, shit. Tallow's looking at you, Logan. Say something to piss him off.

"Uh?" Smooth.

"I said, who was the only President to serve four consecutive terms and why did he?" Oh, shit, he's actually asking a question? No doubt trying to prove he does earn his paycheck but that's too easy a question; everyone knows this. …Hey, stop snickering, class, this isn't funny.

"FDR and it was cuz of World War Two," I answered. "Duh. Everybody knows that." I could practically feel myself get smarter just for remembering that. The grudging murmurs from the class just boosted my ego but more to the point: how many people didn't know that? Wow, Tallow does suck. Tallow scoffed and picked a book up from his desk. Chew on that, ya jackass. I win this time.

"Lucky guess, Martin. Next time, I'm giving you a harder question." Oh, so Grey acts out and _I'm_ the one he targets? How the hell does that make sense? Whatever.

I sat back down and finally noticed the number above Tallow's head. Sixteen. I got curious and snuck a look at Grey, currently flipping through the textbook. Four. Looking around, I saw every number from one to twenty-one floating above peoples' heads. How many arcana did Igor say there were?

...

I'll ask him tonight.

The bell rang and kids started rushing out of that classroom like it was on fire. Couldn't exactly blame them; I was running, too. In my rush, I dropped my bag and my books spilled out.

"Fuck," I sighed under my breath. I swore I just heard Tallow laugh behind that book of his. Smart-ass son of a… Whatever. I knelt down to pick them up but someone already beat me to it. It was Grey Thomas. He handed me back my books with barely a word and stood back up looking kind of awkward about having done a nice thing. Weird and holy _crap,_ is he tall!

"You alright, man?"

"Yeah, just fine. Thanks." Oh, come on, say something other than that. "Nice job… Standing up to Tallow like that, I mean." While he's in the room. Smart.

"I just think it's wrong that he gets to do whatever he wants 'n still gets paid. We're the ones who suffer for it, not him," Grey replied. Again, while he's _still_ in the room.

"I have to agree with that, though I'm not much of a history student." I waited until Tallow turned away before going on and whispered, "Between you and me, I think he slept with a higher-up to get this job. That's go to be the case." Grey let out a laugh and held out his hand to me.

"Name's Grey Thomas. Don't think we've met before," he said with a half-smile. I looked at his hand for a bit before saying 'what the hell' and shaking it.

"Logan Martin. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

**SMASH!**

Time stopped. Oh, no way. It's that easy?

_I am thou…_

Apparently it is.

_And thou art I…._

_Thou hast established a new bond… _

Damn straight I did.

_It brings thee closer to thine answer…_

_Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Emperor Arcana._

* * *

LUNCHTIME

* * *

Okay, so Jett decided to ditch me today at lunch but his excuse as we were walking to the cafeteria was that 'It was bad for his image' to be seen with me. I guess it stops him from getting as many girls as he does if people knew we hung out.

I kinda saw that coming, though.

Doesn't stop me from being pissed. Eh, whatever. I established a new Social Link and that put me in an okay mood.

Whatever, just forget it, Logan. Just get your lunch and find somewhere else to sit. There was a good side and a bad side to being a student of St. Yung's at lunchtime. Bad side: the lines were unbelievably long. I'm talking long enough to span half the cafeteria and the cafeteria's huge. Good side: rich schools always have the best school lunches. If they served Salisbury steak every day for the rest of my high school life, I would never complain again.

Okay, time to look for a place to sit. There's at least two-hundred kids in here right now but more than enough tables to seat everyone. Problem is, I can't sit anywhere without everyone automatically clearing out. I spotted Jett from across the room sitting with nine girls all trying for his attention.

Okay, I admit the guy's good but _that_ good? That's just ridiculous…

Is he… Is he mouthing something at me?

'I'm sorry.'…. Asshole. Hey, I should mouth that at him.

Cue look of indignation.

And then he goes back to his hoes. Wounded.

Victory.

Deciding to just choose a random table, I went up the closest one and plopped my tray down like a bag of rice. Immediately, everybody cleared out like I was the plague or something. Sigh…

Whatever. More room for me.

"Well, that was rude." I didn't say that just now. A few feet away from me was this strong-looking kid wearing a black ball cap with a thick gold stripe down the middle and black hair that stuck out everywhere underneath it. He was kind of a messy guy seeing as there were crumbs all over his uniform and pizza sauce on his cheek but he looked real friendly. The Roman numeral one was above his head.

"You gonna say anything?" He asked me. "Guess not." Way to give me time to answer. "Well, that's okay. I'm kind of a talker myself." I noticed.

"What'd you mean by rude?" I said at last. He scarfed down another bite of pizza and chewed it thoughtfully. I then noticed just how much food he had on his plate: three pizzas, four Salisbury steaks, two iced teas and two burgers. Dear God… How much does he eat?

"For future reference, that's less than I eat." JESUS! Surprise must not have shown on me since he just kept on talking. "And I was calling those guys rude for just bailing when you showed up. Real uncool."

"Yeah… I guess."

"I'm Ethan D'Log!" he said cheerfully. "I've seen you around before. Logan Martin, right?"

"That's me," I grunted. "You sure you'd want to be seen talking to me, man? I know how toxic I am to peoples' reputations." I jerked my head in Jett's direction and Ethan understood at once.

"Ahh, that's just Jett. He can't let anything stand between him and the ladies, you know?"

"I figured as much."

"Listen, why don't you come sit here from now on?" Ethan offered. I'm sorry, what?

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Sit here from now on," he repeated. He took another bite and seemed to swallow it whole. "I see how you're always looking around for somewhere to sit and I figured you can't be as bad as everyone says."

I…honestly don't know what to say. I don't think I've had someone not act like a total douche to me before, let alone two guys in one day. It feels…kind of nice. I can't refuse after that.

"Uhm… Thanks, man. I appreciate it." Ethan grinned widely at me.

"Don't mention it."

**SMASH!**

_I am thou… And thou art I…_

_Thou hast established a new bond… It brings thee closer to thine answer…_

_Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Magician Arcana._

Time sped back up again and Ethan invited me to sit next to him. We spent the rest of the period talking… Well, I was mostly listening while he talked.

But it felt nice having a friend to talk to at lunch.

* * *

AFTERSCHOOL

* * *

Nobody was home when I got back from school. To be expected. The note said that Mom was out teaching a class and the girls were out with Caper again. Took me a second to remember that "Matty" was their pet name for him. Anyways…

I feel good today. I really do. Must be some kind of side-effect from forming two Social Links in one day. The Emperor and the Magician. Grey and Ethan. I wonder why they have those specific arcana and got to thinking about it but then I remembered this morning and thought better of it. Well, I guess it's better to just focus on the task at hand for the moment and that's preparing to go to Rem.

I went to my room and got my Evoker out from its hiding place: taped to the underside of my mattress. Nobody ever looks there. Not since last time…

"_**You swore you'd never speak of it!"**_

I swore nothing to you.

"_**I **_**am**_** you!"**_

Shut up, Gawain.

Digging through my drawer, I found the remaining tins of Snuff Soul and the shot-glassed size bottles of Medicine, trying to think of a way to kill some time. Three hours til Dark Hour… Nothing to do… Might as well go to the Bazaar.

* * *

AFTERSCHOOL

The Bazaar

* * *

That was a waste of my time; there's nothing here. And I'm not hungry enough to buy anything to eat. Jeez, it was a mistake to think to come here. Oh, well, nobody ever said wandering aimlessly wasn't a good way to kill time. So after texting Jett to be at the cul-de-sac by six, I did just that.

I ended up in some weird-ass places, too, just by following the flow of people traffic. I didn't even know this place sold lingerie that kinky.

…What am I saying; of course they do. This is the freaking Bazaar.

Pet shop…

Retail outlet…

Another food court….

Hardware store…? Seriously? In a _mall_? Alright, I think it's time I got out of here and went home. But as I did, I passed one last store at the very back of this section of the Bazaar where there was barely anybody around. The store looked kind of deserted, too… This is a little weird.

"_**Weird enough to check out?"**_

You read my mind.

I stepped through the bead curtain (yes, a _bead_ _curtain._ Apparently, this place doesn't make enough for a real door) and found myself interested right off the bat. It was a dusty old antique store. Most likely the one Jett got his chakram from considering there's a falchion hung on that wall over there. Man, this place is absolutely cluttered with stuff. I can barely take a step without almost stubbing my toe on armor or hitting my head on the blade of a spear. That wouldn't have ended well. There's also a bunch of dusty tarp thrown over some of the bigger stuff and a door leading to a back store-room.

"What are you doing here?" a sharp voice barked at me. "Are you gonna buy something or not?" I whirled around and there stood a haggard looking Japanese guy with shaggy, graying black hair a long face accompanied by big eyes with beady irises.

…This perception thing is getting a little creepy…

Anyway, he dusted off his apron and stood up from his slouching stance and suddenly looked at least ten years younger. I guess those wrinkles on his face were a trick of the light?

"I asked if you were gonna buy something," he growled. "Well?"

"Just browsing. What's it to you?" I shot back. I really shouldn't be getting into this with an old man but, hey, he started it.

"Last kid in here said the same thing and ended up buying a pair of chakram."

"So you've met Jett?"

"That his name? Looked like a real horn dog." I take it back, I think I like this old man.

"You know you're the second person to say that today?" I felt myself smirk. Something about this old guy felt… Familiar. Somehow. He didn't smile back.

"Don't care. Now are you buying something from here or not?" He stepped back and let me take stock of the store. Swords and knives of at least eight different designs, shields, flails, spears… Nothing I wanted.

"Nope."

"Then get out of here."

"Fine then." I muttered "Jackass" under my breath as I left and almost tripped on a piece of body armor for my trouble. Karma, you whore.

"Hey!" the guy called after me.

"What?"

"…My name is Adachi Tohru. That's Tohru Adachi in the western way."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"If you ever need a weapon," he continued, "or need one upgraded, come talk to me. Now get out of my shop." And so I did.

…Wait, didn't Jett say something about a woman working in this store before?

I'll have to come back here.

* * *

END CHAPTER

**_The knight continues his dangerous foray within the world of dreams, the cherub his partner._**

**_'Aria M.'. The name's significance is unknown to them but is one the girl holds dear to her heart. _**

**_The girl, ignorant of the black rose blooming within her, searches for answers in the Dark Hour... _****_The answers lie with the knight. Of that she is convinced._**

**_Unbeknownst to them, their separate searches inextricably link their fates. The knight, the cherub, and the blooming black rose._**

**_What will be born of their union? Greatness? Conflict? Or both?_**

_**Continued in Chapter 005: Bloom for me, Deadly Black Rose part 1**_

* * *

A/N: I feel like this is a bit of a boring chapter but that's because I'm a dude and I'm used to stuff being all action-y. But I am proud of it since this is my first attempt at writing in first person and I think I did a pretty decent job at it. Future chapters will either be written entirely in third person, first person, or a mix of both depending on who that chapter/section is focusing on.


	6. Bloom, Deadly Black Rose pt1

Persona Non Grata

**By:** Brave Soul RMS

**Disclaimer: **None of the Shin Megami Tensei games belong to me nor do any of their characters. They are merely a source of inspiration. I do not claim to be their rightful owner cuz that's Atlus, one of the best game companies on Earth.

**Warning:** It's rated M for a reason, guys. Rated M for a reason.

* * *

**Chapter 005: **Bloom, Deadly Black Rose (Part 1)

Well, today's been weird so far. I woke up unable to move without feeling pain, made two new Social Links, learned Dad's coming home, and met this crazy old dude. Tohru Adachi…

Wait, I never got to see his Arcana number. Maybe I should go back in there? Hrm…

Nah, I've got work to do. It's almost Dark Hour. I headed for the exit thinking about what was gonna be in Aria M.'s dreamscape when I suddenly felt like I was being watched. I stopped short of opening the door and stood deadly still.

Gawain, do you feel that?

"_**Of course. Hiding in the hardware store next to the antiques shop."**_

So I turned and looked over there and, lo and behold, a girl wearing my school's uniform. Can't see her face, though. I swear, she'd better not be that same girl from this morning or I swear…

…Calm yourself, Logan. No need to resort to violence. Yet.

"Hey, you!" I shouted. "I can see you!" The girl jumped and tried to hide herself further in the store but I already knew she was there. "Nice try. Now come out and talk to me." So she did. Once I got a good look at her face, my own formed a frown.

"Henrietta Mackenzie," I huffed. "What do you want?" She didn't say anything for a minute, looking like she was weighing her options or something. It was then that I noticed it was just us there; everyone else was in the main part of the mall going about their daily business. So I guess this wing doesn't see much business. When she finally spoke, she answered my question with another, mildly shocking one.

"What…? What are you?" I honestly did not see that one coming, nor do I have an answer. So I shrugged and BS'd it.

"Human, same as you." She glared at me, thinking I was joking. Well, what's she expect? It's not every day someone asks you that. "I'm not kidding around here. That's my answer." I checked my watch. Five fifteen. It takes an hour to walk back home from the Bazaar, so I'd better make this quick and take the trams if I want to be on time tonight.

"Listen," I said, "if you don't have anything else to ask me, I'd like to be on my way. I have somewhere to be in a little while."

"Wait!" I suppressed a growl. Seriously, I don't want to talk to you, you pale know-it-all robot. Get the message and buzz off!

"I answered your damn question!" I snarled. "What the hell else do you want?" She didn't even flinch. She's just staring me down with those cold brown eyes. Against my better judgement and my will, I gave this girl the benefit of the doubt.

"That night in the parking lot," she began. Oh, that. Now I remember; she was there, wasn't she? "When that monster attacked us and you… You shot yourself in the head and that knight appeared."

"Yeah, so what? It's in the past now and you're alive so why bring it back up?"

"That's why I asked," she said firmly. "What are you?"

I actually had to think for an answer this time. I've acquired the power of Persona and was told to save the world with that. I'm somehow faster and stronger than I've ever been - more than any human my age should be - and yet, I'm still the same. So, I guess she does have a point.

What am I? More accurately, _who_ am I now…? I know I'm still Logan Martin like I always have been but I'm something more now. I closed my fist and let out a steadying breath. Why was thinking about this so stressing? Either way, I don't have an answer for her. At least not right now.

"I guess," I began slowly and calmly, "that I am that knight you saw. But I'm also me. Other than that, I honestly don't know." She frowned at me, lines clearly visible in her pale face.

"I didn't ask you to get all philosophical," she mumbled. "I just want an answer so I know if it's worth my time asking for your help."

"My help?" I found myself laughing out loud. "What the hell do you need my help for? You've always done things yourself, at least from what I can tell. Go bother somebody else." I turned around and started out the exit, not bothering to turn back around when she called for me again. I yelled at her not to follow and from the sudden absence of her voice, I guess she listened. The sky sure is cloudy today… Makes for a pretty serious atmosphere.

I gave her an answer to her question and as far as I'm concerned, that's more than I owe her. After the way she acted towards me, help is the last thing she can ask me for.

"_**And yet, you solicited Jett's help for your endeavor, effectively putting his life on the line without his consent. If I recall, you weren't exactly a saint towards him, either. "**_

….

He followed me of his own will.

"_**That remains to be seen. The way you presented the situation to him did not leave him much of a chance to refuse."**_

You're wrong. Jett knows people could die if we don't do something. Right now, we're the only two that can do anything…! …I told him he had a Persona!

"_**When he knew not what a Persona was. Igor easily could have been wrong about Jett and he could have died last night in Rem. You are not much better yourself and yet you criticize that girl."**_

He was awake during the Dark Hour and that's all I need to know. He's alive, isn't he? He has Eros, doesn't he?

"…"

Just stop talking, Gawain. Don't try and make it like I was putting him in the line of fire only to die. I'm not like that! He showed his potential and Igor was right. That's all. Understand?

"…_**Understood…"**_

Good.

Now, how the hell did I end up so far away from the strip mall already? Why is the sky suddenly clear? …Wait, I'm on the other side of two busy streets and about a half mile away from the strip mall.

Did I just run through moving traffic?

"_**Twice."**_

I told you to shut up.

* * *

Thebel Road Cul-de-sac

September 13th, 2020

* * *

"You're late," was the first word out of Theo's mouth when I arrived at the meeting place. Jett was already there, both chakram on his right arm and Evoker in that same hand. I looked up before answering, trying to gauge how much time was left until Dark Hour. I heard him tapping his foot impatiently.

"I know," I muttered. "I got held up. Tried killing time at the Bazaar and met two weird people."

"Like who?" asked Jett.

"That girl, Henrietta, and the owner of that weapons shop," I answered. "Not really important." Jett's ears practically twitched like a dog's when he heard Henrietta's name.

"Really…" he said slyly, sliding up to me and putting an arm on my shoulders. I raised an eyebrow at him but gave him the chance to keep talking. "And did she say anything about me? Maybe something about my hair or my eyes or my strong, chiseled features?" Time to wipe that smug look off his face.

"Nope." And his face falls like a sack of bricks. "She didn't even say anything about you. She was actually looking for my help." I felt myself smirk triumphantly when his jaw dropped open.

"Y-You!" he stammered. "Why the hell would she choose _you_ over me?" he shouted, pointing a disbelieving finger at me. Cue raised eyebrow. Cue evil glint in my eye. There it is; the shrinking back like a scared puppy.

"Sorry, dude, I didn't mean it like that," he said quickly. "It's just that, y'know, I'm the one that usually gets the girls and then she comes along all immune and stuff…"

"Not used to it, are you?" I laughed loudly. "Trust me, man, she ain't worth it."

"It's not whether or not she's worth it, it's that I cannot let there be one girl in our year that I haven't hooked up with. It's bad for my record, y'know?" Jett grinned proudly and I resisted the urge to slam my palm into my face. Dear lord, is that seriously all he cares about?

"Whatever, man. We have a job to do, so saddle up," I ordered.

"Before you go," Theo interrupted, rooting around in his magic duffel bag and handing me my weapons, "I have some armor for you, courtesy of Master Igor." I made a mental note to visit the old bastard soon. Haven't heard from him in a bit.

"_**It's only been two days."**_

Thought I told you to shut up.

"Watcha got, Theo?" Jett asked jauntily. I cannot get a good read on this guy at all. Theo dug around again before producing two sleeveless mesh shirts that looked sort of like they were made of rubber.

"Doesn't look too comfy," I remarked. "That's supposed to be armor?"

"Don't judge a book by its cover, Logan," the bartender chastised me. "They're called Rash Guards. You wear them under your normal clothes and they should act well in guarding you against Shadow attacks. Put them on." So we did, and two minutes later, Jett and I were ready for battle with the armor under our shirts. The Rash Guard clung to my skin like I expected it to but, strangely, it wasn't constricting or uncomfortable. Left me a lot of room to breathe.

"I like it."

"Good. Now then…" The world turned just then. Jett and I looked up to confirm it and the scarlet sun stared back at us. Then came the puddles of blood and the green tint the world took up. I felt a rush of power as my flame relit and, newly energized, I banged my fists together. Dark Hour's here.

"Alright. Let's get started," I said with a wide grin. I need to let off some steam tonight and damned be the Shadow that ends up my punching bag.

"You seem pumped," Jett joked, twirling his Evoker into his belt and tossing one of the chakram on his arms up and catching it in his now free hand. "Then again, I am, too. Let's rock, Eros."

"If you would be so kind…" Theo bowed and gestured towards the lever. After making sure Jett and I had our Snuff Souls and Meds handy, I pulled the lever to the newly added "Waypoint" setting and steeled my nerves as we descended.

"Aria M., here we come," I muttered under my breath.

* * *

"Truly, he is a reckless child," Theodore said aloud after Logan and Jett were far enough down the shaft. "No sort of preparation beyond that of putting on armor and rallying himself for battle. I worry for the state of the world. If only the original were the one to be fighting instead of Logan…"

He miraculously produced a set of screens, a table, and a chair from within his duffel bag and sat down, lacing his fingers together in mental preparation. At once, the screens arranged themselves according to size, the largest in the middle, flickering on to display the inside of the descending elevator from Logan's point of view.

"Time to get started, I guess," mumbled the bartender as he put on a headset and leaned forward in his seat.

"Hey!" called an unknown voice. "Who are you? And how can you be moving right now? Shouldn't you be a coffin?" Slightly surprised, Theodore slowly turned towards the source of the voice. When he laid eyes on the girl, he mimicked Logan by raising one of his eyebrows and straightening up in interest.

"I could ask the same of you, Ms. Mackenzie." Rietta stiffened and drew an arm up to her chest defensively.

"How do you know my name?" she demanded of the blonde man. Her eyes narrowed when he opted not to answer.

"My name is Theodore," he said instead. Theodore rose up from his chair and gave a gentlemanly bow. "But, please, call me Theo." Rietta relaxed in spite of herself and took a few tentative steps forward.

"Whoever you are," she mumbled, "you sure are polite…"

* * *

Jett and I made it to the Waypoint with no problem and headed straight for Aria M.'s door to wait for Theo to contact us. I myself leaned against the plush velvet lining and tried contacting Gawain. It was disturbingly easy.

Gawain?

"_**Yes, Master?"**_

Listen, I'm sorry for earlier today. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that.

"_**It is no trouble at all. Besides, I have already forgiven you and I am thou. The question is, have **_**you**_** forgiven yourself for your transgression?"**_

…What?

_~Logan, are you listening?~_

"Wha…? Oh. Sorry, Theo, I kinda zoned…"

"I'll say. You looked high out of your mind there, dude," Jett commented. "You okay? I don't want to be going in there with a spaced-out leader." For some reason, I felt a pang of guilt when Jett said that, quickly followed by another thanks to the look he was giving me. It looked normal enough but I could see fear behind his eyes. Damn it…

"I'm fine," I said forcefully. "Don't be such a girl. What were you saying, Theo?"

_~I was saying that, once inside Aria's dreamscape, I won't be able to guide you like I did before. I only get a full map of the floor after you've proceeded to the next one, so be cautious. Though, the Shadows there shouldn't be much stronger than the ones you faced last night.~_

"Right. Got it." I reached for the doorknob but Theo stopped me in my tracks with one last announcement.

_~Oh, and you two have a visitor when you return. Keep that in mind.~_

"Visitor?" Jett asked. "Who the hell but us can be awake during the Dark Hour?"

"Another user," I hypothesized. "That's pretty much it, unless Igor decided to leave the Velvet Room."

"Who?" Oh, yeah, I forgot. Jett has no clue who Igor is.

"I'll explain later. For now, let's go." I opened the door and immediately, we were swamped by purple light. A second later, we found ourselves in a… A…

A hedge maze thirty feet across with twenty foot high hedges in what I think is a stretch of a flower field. And some of these flowers are definitely not normal since we have some ranging from normal sizes, shapes, and colors to some as tall as house and one shaped like a freaking pinwheel. And it's even spinning. Awesome.

This is the complete opposite of what I was expecting.

"It's like we're in some kind of twelve-year-old's sugar fueled dreamland," I groaned aloud. "You've got to be freaking kidding me."

"Who knows? Maybe Aria M. really is twelve years old," Jett guessed. "Either way, this is much better than what I was expecting."

I had to ask, "What were you expecting?"

"Some kind of living nightmare." I gave him a look and he looked around a bit more before answering. "Well, I mean, she's an Apathy Syndrome victim, right? It's a pretty bad thing to come down with, so I figured this place would be more like a nightmare or fever dream but it's not."

"You have a point," I admitted. "Theo, are you sure this is the right place?"

_~Trust me, this is the right place~_ he answered, tone dead serious. _~Just press forward and it shall become more apparent.~ _That's a bit unsettling… Okay, more than a bit unsettling. Just what's waiting for us the further we go into this dream?

I wordlessly started the expedition at a jogging pace, more tense than normal. The Shadows here shouldn't be any stronger than the ones on the floor above, I kept reminding myself, but I couldn't settle down. At least not until we fought one of the Shadows on this floor. Right, left, left, right, left, right, another left, and a right, and we made it to the elevator. That was a bit too easy. Regardless, we moved onto the next floor of the hedge maze and saw that it was relatively the same as the floor above.

"If this floor takes the same path to the lift, I'm gonna laugh," Jett commented.

"Can't be this simple," I added. "Theo, can you at least tell us when Shadows are around?"

_~Of course. There seems to be one coming for you as we speak~_

…What?

Not a second later, a giant freakin' black rhino beetle bursts through one of the hedges and skid-turns to face Jett and me, wings flared and buzzing evilly. The ground shook with the vibrations from its wings and a strong wind came from them that blew branches and leaves and dust all over the place. Jett covered his face from getting buffeted by debris and I narrowed my own eyes at the Shadow. Atop its horn was a deep purple mask with the Roman four on the forehead and four tall prongs emerging from the top.

_~Grave Bettle; Emperor Arcana!~_ So this thing is the same Arcana as Grey? Christ, I'd hate to see what his Persona would look like if he had one! _~This is one of the stronger ones, so the both of you, stay. On. Guard!~_

"Right off the bat?" Jett whined as the wind died down. The Shadow brandished its horn at us and opened its disgusting maw to release a shriek to rival a banshee.

"Circle around!" I ordered. "It can't have very good agility. Think of it like a tank."

"That doesn't make help at all!" he shouted but I was already off and running.

The Grave Beetle raised its horn as I charged for it and slammed it down when I got within three feet of it. A tower of dust rose like a landmine went off and the shaking ground nearly cost me my footing. Next thing I knew, the horn shot out from behind the dust cloud and caught me in the stomach before launching me upwards. I felt my stomach lurch sickeningly as I flew higher and then felt my chest bruise when I hit the ground. Fuck you, gravity…

"Garu!" I dimly registered Jett's command while I picked myself up off the ground and tried to refocus my vision. Eros appeared out of the blue fog and cast a Garu with a flap of his wings. The Shadow cumbersomely dodged the spike of green air erupting from under it and batted Jett away with its horn. Jett slammed into the hedge wall while the beetle flared its wings again and aimed its horn down like a bull about to charge.

A bull about to charge… SHIT!

"Jett, get out of the way!" I roared frantically. The Grave Beetle achieved lift and javelined itself at Jett with disproportionate speed intending to gore the guy on its horn. My instincts took over and I broke out in a mad sprint. I don't know what I thought I was going to do but I did know I had to get Jett out of there before he… He…

Shit, the beetle's closing the gap! Blood pumping in my ears, I tried desperately to speed up but the opposite happened and time just slowed down. Move, Logan, _MOVE, DAMN IT!_ Tell him to run!

"Jett!" I screamed, the strain starting to hurt my throat. "MOVE! Run! Get out of the way!" I waved my arms frantically but all Jett did was shakily get to his feet and lean against the shrubbery wall, too hurt to move. Either that or he couldn't hear me.

The beetle roared, it's voice overtaking my own and even the pounding in my ears. I cursed the fact that adrenaline just kept slowing things down. The Shadow had to be less than five feet away when time decided to slow to an absolute crawl then. I screamed myself hoarse telling Jett to move, immediately banishing the thought of 'Why do I care?' when it popped up among my chaotic thoughts.

Shit. No. No… NO! The Shadow's two feet from him!

"JETT, YOU IDIOT, MO-"

_**CRASH!**_

Dust and leaves and branches as thick as my torso erupted into the air after impact, the branches coming back down to earth with a thunderous crash. I fell to my knees in defeat. _'No'_ was the only word ringing through my head as my brain slowly shut my body down. I felt numb.

Jett was… He was… Because of me… I can't… I don't… It's not my fault…!

But it _is._

If I'd just kept my mouth shut about Personas and Shadows and all that shit, he'd still be alive. He'd be a womanizing asshole, but he'd be alive, damn it, and now he's not and it's all my fault!

I gripped my head in grief and resisted the urge to scream, instead biting into my lip hard enough to draw blood. From outside the storm of guilt ravaging my mind, I heard the beetle scream in celebration of its bloody victory, no doubt raising Jett's impaled corpse into the air on it's fucking horn.

It's all my fault… It's all my fault…!

"I'm sorry," I whispered, beaten and lost. "I'm sorry… Damn it!"

"Hey, Logan!" ….What…? "If you don't mind getting up off the ground over there, I'd love it if you hit this thing! I can't really reach my Evoker!"

What?

I scrambled to my feet almost face planting for my trouble and shook my eyes clear of unnoticed tears to see the opposite of what I expected: Jett was holding the bastard Shadow back, both chakram dug into the left side of its face. From the look of the gash in his jacket and shirt, he'd barely sidestepped the Grave Beetle and drove his weapons into its eye. _AND_ he was holding it back! Those weren't screams of victory from the Shadow; they were shrieks of pain!

"No way," I breathed, relieved and shocked at the same time. "No fucking way!"

"What?" Jett asked, straining slightly and getting pushed back a bit by the Beetle's force. "You'd think this thing could take Jett Mitchell down? No way in hell!" I grinned, all the adrenaline in my body kick starting my body and telling me to fight.

"Now, hit this thing!" Jett roared. My mouth tore open in a feral yell and I hit the ground running towards Jett and the beetle, cocked my fist back halfway there, took a running leap and hit the bastard thing in its other eye with a meteor strike of a punch. It squealed in agony, its spit streaming out of its mouth in long gooey ropes and huge globs that narrowly missed Jett when he jumped away.

Jett did the cool thing and cast a Dia on me to take care of my bruised stomach but a little bit of the damage was still there. Screw the damage, this thing dies tonight! I put my Evoker to my temple and my vision flashed gold when I pulled the trigger. Gawain appeared at the heed of the gunshot, sword-arm at the ready. With a warrior yell, he brought his arm down like a guillotine blade and got it lodged into the Grave Beetle's first two legs on the left side. A grunt of effort later and the blade swung down again with audible sharpness and cleaved those legs right off to the sound of a screeching beetle. My ears are starting to hurt from all that noise.

"Jett, let's turn down the volume on this bastard!" I barked. Jett shouted an affirmative and summoned Eros, his Persona casting Garu with a flap of his wings. The air spike that formed under the Shadow launched it into the air with the force of a catapult. It flipped end-over-end and flailed uselessly in the air before crashing down and landing on its back, earning a splintered shell.

Surprisingly, the bastard thing was able to throw its weight to the side soon after and get back on its feet. It spread its wings and buffeted Jett away with a burst of wind and as ironic as that was, I had to time to enjoy it; the thing was charging right for me!

The Beetle Shadow flew at me leading with its horn and I sprinted as fast I could, pulled back my fist and WHAM! The mask at the end of the horn and my gauntlet met with a loud impact noise and, I shit you not, the collision force actually put a crater in the ground. My arm started shaking from the impact but I held firm. The beetle pushed me away and thrust its horn only to have it miss when I leaned out of the way. I think I've had enough of fighting this thing.

Evoker.

Click.

**BANG!**

Gawain rose up out of my mind, sword at the ready and at my command for a Cleave, he rose his arm into the air and brought it back down like a guillotine blade with a warrior shout. The blade ended up stuck in the first two legs on the beetle's left side. I shot myself again and Gawain wrenched his weapon out and slashed it down again, severing the insect's limbs and eliciting deafening shrieks and wails. One more should do it.

"Agi!"

**BANG!**

The Shadow caught fire right then and there before exploding in a spectacular rain of ichor. Gawain and Eros collected the experience and grew one level each. Man, I am on one hell of a roll tonight! Not a scratch on me!

_**"That's because Jett healed you," **_Gawain said when he returned, _**"and even then, you still have a few injuries."**_

Shut up, Gawain. Don't ruin this for me.

"Nice, Logan!" Jett cheered. I grinned a little wider than I should have. Cut me a break. Today's been one (relatively) great day for me and - Where'd everything go? Why can I only see blue? The hell?

All I can see is pale blue like someone put a sheet over my head. Three cards then appeared in my vision, a giant gold coin on one, a blue goblet on the other, and what looked to be a... Is that a fairy in a blue leotard on the third? They flipped over and showed me their backs were identical to the backs of Arcana cards and started shuffling themselves around.

_**"Follow one!" **_Gawain shouted.

Fine. I locked on the fairy one and watched as it switched places with the goblet then the coin then coin again before ending up at the head of the line. Guess I might as well pick that one. I reached out and touched it and it flipped over again. Fairy card. Hell yeah. ...I think?

"Logan!" Oh, look, the world's back. Jett looks scared. No surprise there. "Dude, what happened?

"I don't know," I said truthfully. "Everything just turned blue and these cards appeared in my vision. I didn't know what else to do so I picked one. "

"Is that how you got the one in your hand?" Wow, he's right. Does this mean I can make the things that I imagine real?

A large jagged crack appeared in the card and bisected it. Smaller ones branched off it and it shattered into swirling glass that formed itself into a glass sculpture of the fairy on the card. A few seconds later and the fairy started moving and gaining color.

_**"Hiya!" **_Wow, that is one squeaky voice. _**"My name's Pixie! You summoned me, right?" **_I nodded uncertainly while Jett watched on clearly confused. _**"Great! Looks like we're gonna be partners for a bit!"**_ And then she just faded out of existence.

"Uhhh..." My thoughts exactly Jett.

"Where'd it go?" I asked.

_**"In here, Master Logan!" **_

Holy shit! How… What?

I looked around in shock for the little blue pixie but she wasn't anywhere to be found. Am I going crazy? …Er? Damn it, now I'm calling myself a psycho.

"Dude," Jett asked, "what's up with you? Are you alright?"

"I'm not even sure anymore," I muttered in response. "Pixie? Where are you?"

_**"Tee-hee-hee! Don't be scared, silly!"**_

"Wait…"

Pixie. Are you in there with Gawain?

"_**Duh! I'm your new Persona now so of course I'd hang out in your head! We're gonna have lots of fun together."**_ Why...did she just sound like she's trying to seduce me?

_**"Master Logan..."**_

I just had to get the horny pixie, didn't I?

"_**Master…"**_

Yeah, Gawain?

"_**She's making advances towards me…" **_Wow, does he sound uneasy. Or wait… Is that… Is he interested?

"Oh, goddamn it," I sighed aloud.

"You okay?" Jett asked.

"Be happy you can't have more than one Persona," I grumbled before starting onward.

"Uhm, alright then."

The rest of the floor was populated mostly by the weaker Shadows but they still proved to be a challenge. Even with two levels, Jett I are still a little too new to this. Guess I can't expect this whole thing to be done that quickly. After a particularly hard fight that I ended with an Agi, the world turned blue again and four cards appeared to me. Another cup, another coin, and another Pixie, but there was a new one marked with a red sword. Might as well go for that one.

After the shuffle, I easily picked out the sword card and, sure enough, it was in my hand when I returned to reality. It shattered and its fragments rearranged themselves into a wicked looking spear with a purple cloth tied onto it.

"So these cards give me things based on the symbol imprinted onto them," I theorized as I tested the spear in my hands. It was a little heavy but nothing major. I could definitely use it but I've gotten too used to using my fists.

"Does this mean you're some kind of wizard?" Jett asked with a curious look. He stopped for a moment to think before smiling like an idiot. "Because if you are, think of the things you could get! Chicks, money, power, and chicks!"

"You said 'chicks' twice," I deadpanned. "Forget it. Let's just keep moving."

"What about that spear? You just gonna carry it around until we leave?" I shrugged.

"I'm gonna have to."

Twenty minutes to the end of Dark Hour and the fights were few and far between. This night seems to be going so fast that I don't even feel anything remotely resembling an emotion regarding that. Should I be happy that we're not wearing ourselves out or antsy to get stronger? This night's got me thinking a lot more than I want to be. Too much of a rollercoaster, too…

"Next elevator," Jett announced as we approached it.

"Oh," I answered absently. "Yeah…" Jett called it down and we got in silently. Both of us seemed to be thinking about something.

"Hey," he finally said in a low voice. "I know we've only been doing this for two nights but doesn't tonight seem to be going a bit fast?" He actually sounds serious. "I mean, it can't be this easy, right? Just go in and find the elevator. There has to be more to it than this."

"I…" I don't have an answer.

"You…?" Jett prodded. "Come on. Don't keep me in suspense."

"Well… Relatively speaking, the last two nights in Rem have moved really fast and have been a lot easier battle-wise than I initially expected. I thought at least one of us was going to get seriously injured and it almost came to that earlier…" Flashes of the recent memory raced through my mind.

"But it didn't. I don't know, Jett." He really didn't look too confident about that answer. "It might be easy now but it definitely won't stay that way…"

The elevator doors slid open before he could say anything else and we were treated to a rather unusual sight: two girls that looked alike enough to be sisters were playing tag in the middle of a large open block of the hedge maze with another little girl. All three were wearing sundresses and didn't even seem to notice that we were there. I squinted to get a better look at the oldest girl's face but her hair covered her eyes. Same for the other two. Somehow, I have a bad feeling about this.

Jett tried calling out to them and when they didn't respond, he took a step out of the elevator towards them.

"_I remember this." _That was a woman's voice…

"The hell…?" Confused, Jett turned back to me then looked back at the girls.

"Was that you or one of them?" he asked.

"Jee, Jett, I don't know. Between me and one of them, I'm not too sure which of us sounds more like a woman."

"_I remember this day," _the voice said again. It came from all around us and sounded sad and reminiscent at the same time.

"This might be Aria talking," I said. "Shut up and listen."

"_Ten years ago when I was still living at home… The big one's me and the little ones are my sister and her friend Ilys in the purple and blue. This was Easter and Mom had gotten one for each of us." _She stopped talking and her voice faded into an echo. Looking to me for direction, Jett nodded his head in the frolicking girls' direction. I gave him the okay and we cautiously walked over to them, stopping about ten feet away.

"They look like they're having fun," Jett noticed.

"_Things were simpler back then; we were kids. Little sister and I were so close and she was so happy. Always laughing, always looking for something to do. She had tons of friends." _I looked towards the girl I guessed to be Aria's little sister to make sure of her claim. The little one really looked like she was having fun and I guess she really admired Aria from the way she's looking up at her.

"_**Something bad must've happened…" **_Pixie sighed in my mind.

Yeah, no shit, Sherlock.

"_**You're so mean! But I think…"**_

You think?

"_**I think I like mean. A little pain never hurt anyone in bed, right?"**_

Pixie, shut the hell up and listen.

"_But somewhere along the line, little sister changed." _Wow, that is one bitter tone. _"She started hiding herself up in her room with all those books and her play time turned to study time. I worried about her. Her skin started getting shades paler as the weeks went by and she got so thin." _The girls abruptly stopped playing with one another and Ilys disappeared entirely. The little sister grew by a few years and inches and her skin got paler just like Aria said. Aria herself grew, too. They had looked like sisters when they were younger but now that they were older, they look almost nothing alike.

"_I asked her what happened to her friends but she just said they all left. "They all left"? What does that mean? They all still lived down the block. I worried so much about her but she just didn't care and went on being a hermit. And now I don't even understand her anymore. I don't even think I know who she is anymore but she's definitely not my sister. This isn't sweet little…"_

Aria's voice faded out, along with the images of her and her sister's younger selves. I'm not too sure what we just saw but I can guess these are the negative emotions the Shadow afflicting her is feeding off of.

"Was that one of her memories?" Jett asked, tension visibly leaving him. "And why'd it cut off just as she was about to tell us her sister's name?"

"It probably was. That monologue must've been her inner thoughts and I can bet you they get worse the further down we go…"

"_**We're invading her privacy,"**_ Gawain said somberly.

I know. I don't like it either.

"We're turning in for the night," I announced. Jett didn't voice an objection. "Twenty minutes may be left in the Dark Hour but I'm tired and I need to think this over."

"Yeah, same. So, how do we -?"

_SKREEEE!_

Fucking Hablerie Shadows.

I whirled around, thoroughly annoyed and took hold of my Evoker. The two giant mouths spotted us and were now racing to close the gap, drooling jaws agape.

"Annoying little bastards have horrible timing!" I growled. Jett wasted no time in slicing one of them and cutting its lips. It countered by biting into his shoulder.

"_**Ooh, ooh! Master Logan! Switch to me! I have a move that can hurt these guys!"**_

What? But what can you do?

My Hablerie punched me in the face with its slimy tongue and then went in for a bite. I ducked out of the way and gave it a nasty uppercut that made it bite its own tongue clean off.

Are you sure about this, Pixie? I'm trusting you here.

"_**Yes, I'm sure, now stop worrying and switch to me!"**_

Alright.

I reached out for Pixie's presence in my mind and found it was startlingly easy to find her. She pushed herself to the forefront and I took that as the signal to summon. Pixie rose up out of my mind, no bigger than my hand, and threw her hands into the sky with a squeak of effort. What happened next caught me completely off guard. I don't think anybody was expecting a _fucking lightning bolt_ to just drop out of the sky and blast the Hablerie to kingdom come!

"Well, that was impressive!" I said, eyes wide with shock. "How did you…?" Pixie giggled at my bewilderment.

"_**That was a Zio spell, Master,"**_she said proudly. Pixie stuck her tongue out and fluttered around my head.

"That was fucking awesome is what it was! Let's do it again! Pixie!"

**BANG!**

And that's another dead Hablerie. Guess these suckers are as weak to electricity as Jett is impressed by it.

"Dude? Lightning?" he shouted.

"Hell yeah, lightning!"

"Awesome!"

Shuffle Time's started up again and out of two coins and this weird green curly branch, I picked the curly branch for the hell of it. Minor Arcana: The Wand. I was immediately rewarded with a level-up. Oh, hell yes. This is a good night.

DOUBLE UP!

Say what now?

"_**Double or nothing," **_Gawain explained. _**"Continue?"**_

Why the hell not?

Three coins and what looks to be a blond angel wearing nothing but strategically placed leather belts. Guess which one I chose. God, do I love being able to follow shuffles.

The card's fragments formed into the Persona and I swear Jett looked at me with the most incredulous face. I resisted the urge to laugh. I failed.

"_**I am known as Angel and as long as you follow the path of righteousness, I shall follow you…"**_

Two Personas in one night. They're both hot chicks. Eat your heart out, Jett Mitchell.

Okay, now we end it. We searched around the floor for a little bit and avoided any Shadows we came across. We eventually came across something a little like an express elevator in that it -moved twice as fast as a normal one and only had one destination: the surface. Theodore said we can use these to go back any time we wanted. Thanks, Captain Obvious.

"We won't be going in tomorrow," I told Jett as we raced upwards. "I need time to think and you should rest."

"Alright. Thanks, man," he muttered. Looks like he needs to think too. Hope he doesn't hurt himself.

"Gentlemen," Theodore acknowledged us when we got back. "It's good to see you still in one piece."

"Oh, shut it, smartass," I shot back. Jett went straight to Theo's table where, conveniently, there were water bottles and some sandwiches. I stretched my back and arms before helping myself to a few sandwiches. "Where's this visitor you were talking about?"

"Right here." I turned around and - Oh, no. No. _She_ can stay in the Dark Hour? And I thought I'd be rid of her…

"Henrietta Mackenzie," I sighed. "What do you want?"


	7. Bloom, Deadly Black Rose pt2

**Persona Non Grata**

**By: **Brave Soul RMS

**Disclaimer: **None of the Shin Megami Tensei games belong to me nor do any of their characters. They are merely a source of inspiration. I do not claim to be their rightful owner cuz that's Atlus, one of the best game companies on Earth.

**Warning: **It's rated M for a reason, guys. Rated M for a reason.

* * *

**Chapter 006:** Bloom, Deadly Black Rose (pt 2)

We stood there in complete silence for a good three minutes. Jett was, for lack of a better word, flabbergasted at the fact that Henrietta was still able to move during the Dark Hour and Henrietta just gave the two of us a death glare, the purple flame above her heart occasionally flickering. Theodore, the smug jackass, just stood off to the side with an amused smirk on his face. Way to make this more awkward, dude. After finally finding his words, Jett was the first to break the silence.

"What the hell are you doing inside Dark Hour?" He wondered. Stalking us, Jett. What's it look like? "You shouldn't be able to do that."

"And why not?" she countered, arms crossed and adamant. "You shouldn't be a sophomore with your grades but you are." Wow, this girl is cold. I can practically feel it from here.

_**"A girl after your own heart?"**_

Shut up, Gawain.

_**"Oooh..."**_

What now, Pixie?

_**"I was just thinking… That pale skin's really kind of a turn on, isn't it?"**_

Like hell it is! Now shut up!

_**"Now if only she'd smile, I'd ravish her right here and now."**_

There is something seriously wrong with you, lady!

_**"I am you, Master Logan..."**_

...I'll KILL you...

"Well, at least tell us why you're here," Jett insisted. "You must be here for something."

"I'm here looking for you," Rietta said bluntly, a thin finger pointed straight at me. I raised an eyebrow.

"You certainly don't waste time," I drawled. "I thought I told you I wasn't going to help you back at the bazaar. What do you need us for, anyway? We've got nothing to do with you."

"That's for me to decide." She's dug in now and something tells me she won't be getting off.

"Getting forceful, are we? At least you've got a spine."

_**"I like force..."**_

Pixie! Shut up! Gawain, why aren't you shutting her up?

"I like force..." Henrietta just looked at him, disgusted. Goddamn it, Jett. Just goddamn it.

"Jett, shut up!" I growled. "Look, Henrietta. We've got nothing to do with you. I don't know how you're awake during Dark Hour but you need to go home or else the Shadows -"

"My sister has Apathy Syndrome."

...

...

...This is one awkward silence...

"What?"

"I heard you talking about it back at the cul-de-sac about Aria M." No way, she sounds almost...Sad. Wait, she was following us? "That's my sister's name. Aria Mackenzie." Nevermind, this is more important.

From the fact that Jett's jaw is practically touching the ground and the undoubtedly skeptical look on my face, it's safe to say that revelation hit like a freaking truck. Henrietta shifted her weight, obviously uncomfortable and trying to form words of some sort.

"If you two know someway to help her…" She bit her lip and sighed. "Then please, you need to tell me."

"Your sister..." Jett breathed, stunned. He really needs to acclimate fast or else this is going to get annoying even faster. I didn't say anything just yet. I have to think about this long and hard but I'm tired from fighting and I still have a few bruises left from fighting. I looked over at Theo and he just shrugged his shoulders at me as if to say 'It's not my decision.'. Of course it isn't his decision… But he could at least help me out. I sighed.

For now, there can't be any harm in just explaining everything to her. This is all moving so fast…

"Okay then," I finally said. "I guess you do have something to do with us." I motioned for her to sit in Theo's chair. "Siddown. We've got a lot to talk about."

It didn't take very long for me to spit out a condensed version of the events of the past three days. I told her about my mission, Personas, Shadows, Rem, and the Velvet Room. Unsurprisingly, she was a little skeptic but I saw from her face that she grew to accept what I was telling her. Her justification was that if she was operating during a time where almost nobody else could, she supposed anything could happen. I honestly couldn't have put that better myself. Then I explained exactly what Apathy Syndrome was and I swear she looked about to cry for a split second, but it was quickly replaced by her usual uncaring face. I wanted to tell her only the weak make themselves look strong but this didn't seem the time or the place.

The entire time, though, Jett was completely silent as though he were all new to this, too. …Oh, yeah, he is… Sigh. Why does this have to be so difficult?

"So…" she mumbled after I was done recounting. "You were in Aria's dreams." Jett and I nodded. "What was it like?" she asked tentatively.

"Like a big-ass freaking flower garden crossed with a hedge maze," I deadpanned, "and I'm being one-hundred percent serious. I'd rather not go into the details, but there are Shadows in there, too. Now I have a question; exactly how are you functioning during the Dark Hour? Everyone else is a ten-foot tall black coffin." She took a moment to think before uncertainly explaining.

"I…I'm not too sure myself," she began slowly. "I remember back when I was a kid, somewhere around 2009, this phenomenon had been present but it ended around New Year's."

"And you were awake during Dark Hour back then, too?" Jett asked. She nodded.

"I was scared at first but then, I don't know, I just grew used to it. Needless to say, I was surprised but not very."

That's weird. I don't remember anything like this happening in 2009. If I'm so special, then why was she awake to Dark Hour before me? I checked my watch. Five minutes til the world wakes up. I should end this.

"Look," I said a little too shortly, "It's dangerous out here during this time. You shouldn't be out. Shadows tend to escape Rem and go hunting." Her eyes shifted to a diamond-hard glare and the bridge of her nose crinkled.

"Don't you treat me like a child," she spat. "I can take care of myself." Stubborn little… Sensing the building tension, Theo and Jett jumped in to back me up.

"He is right, you know," said Theo, all wise-sounding and crap. "It would be a shame for a girl as lovely as you to be preyed upon by Shadows." He tried taking her hand in his but she snatched it right back with a disgusted look on her face. Theo just smirked, the dog. He has weird taste in girls.

"You can't fight Shadows without a Persona," Jett added. "It's kind of a rule. So unless you get one in the next five seconds, we can't have you getting attacked and we definitely can't be your bodyguards."

"That's why when Dark Hour starts," I said seriously, "from now on, you come here and hang with Theo. Understand?" Her focus turned from Jett to me and she bowed her head in defeat. Smart girl.

"Alright." I nodded, tired and only wanting to sleep. I started turning to leave but she clutched my school jacket faster than I could turn. I sighed, refusing to look at her again but next to me, Jett's serious face told me I should. I'm gonna regret this… I turned.

Her face was mostly unchanged but something in her eyes… They weren't hard or soft or apathetic but something in them made her look dead-set on something. For some reason, I couldn't look away.

"But in return, you help my sister," she said, voice clear and loud. Almost like she were afraid I wouldn't hear her. Henrietta let go of my jacket and extended her hand to seal the deal. I just stared at it. My stomach knotted.

If I took her hand, I'd be making a promise I probably wouldn't be able to keep. I have no clue how deep Aria's dream runs or how powerful the Shadow leeching off of her is. If I take her hand and I fail - if I don't kill the Shadow - then this will follow me forever. Her sister would be gone and it would be all my fault. I can't take her hand.

So why am I shaking it right now?

"Deal," I said. Fuck, I thought.

Dark Hour ended as I grasped her hand and in a few minutes, we all went our separate ways. I watched Jett as he left and it dimly occurred to me that I haven't attempted to advance my Social Link with him. Maybe I should later.

…

Fuck that. Not before I get some well-deserved sleep.

* * *

September 14th, 2020

* * *

I feel like shit today. Not going into Rem.

Hung out with Ethan at lunch today and we talked a bit. He's a cool guy and by far the nicest of my Social Links. I learned his favorite food is fire-grilled Philly cheese steak with jalapeño sauce. He shared half of the one he brought in today with me. Despite the fact that I'm certain if I cast an Agi spell right now the result would be me doing a very good impression of a Charizard, I ate that bad boy down to the last crumb. I think our friendship got a bit stronger as we hung out.

A bit stronger.

I paid a visit to the school shrink today and got a refill on my meds. Whee. At least I got to sleep for a period.

Other than Angel bugging the crap out of me to pay attention in class, I haven't heard from my Personas all day. That's sort of weird. Eh, I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. I took some decent notes today which is good because Ms. Fushimi said we're having a test on classical conditioning in two days. Maybe I can finally get a good grade this time.

…Did I just say that? I need to get rid of Angel fast…

"_**I heard that."**_

Shut up, Angel.

* * *

September 15th, 2020

* * *

As I walk to school, I notice I feel a little better today. Must be because I crashed earlier than I usually do. Whatever it is, I'm glad I don't feel like I'm lugging around a lead donkey on my back anymore. So, what's the plan for today, guys?

"_**Building and strengthening your Social Links," **_Angel replied.

"_**You have currently established the Lovers, Emperor, and Magician Links with Jett, Grey, and Ethan respectively. Which shall you pursue today?" **_Gawain asked me sounding a lot like a butler. I shrugged in response.

Whichever. Maybe Lovers since I have Pixie with me. I wonder if having a Persona of a matching Arcana helps you out in any way.

"_**I believe it to be possible," **_said Gawain. _**"After school today, we are to visit Miss Henrietta. Do not forget."**_

Right, right. I got it, Gawain.

"Yo, Logan!" Speak of the devil, there's Jett. Looks like he's attracting some weird glances from the three other kids that take this way to school. Three guesses why. He stopped short of me and gave me a slight wave hello and a smile. He seems okay. Better than Wednesday.

"What's up?" I asked him.

"Well, for one thing, I noticed your voice is almost always a monotone," he pointed out. Thanks, Captain Obvious, now get to the point. "But I've been doing some thinking."

"Hope you didn't hurt yourself," I said. He frowned but the look was gone in a flash. "About what?" I stifled a yawn as the sun crawled up slowly over the horizon. I freakin' hate getting up at the ass-crack of dawn to go to school. Whose dumbass idea was that? There's still mist on the ground!

Switching attention back to Jett, I saw that he was waiting for me to start paying attention. I sighed. This has to be important. Cue serious atmosphere. I switched Angel in as my active Persona and suddenly, the burning fearful glances thrown my way were like pinpricks in the skin of a rhino to me. I felt my focus sharpen instantly and most of my ambient thoughts dimmed in volume. This switching thing is weird and surprisingly easy.

I figured out that certain of things come easier to me depending on which Persona I have active and that I can only switch between them once per few minutes. With Angel, I focus better and I start paying more attention and the thought to use sarcasm appears less and less. When I see someone picking on someone else, I get filled with righteous fury and I feel like doing something about it. Angel's Arcana is Justice so I guess that's why.

When Pixie's in front, I get bolder, more confident, and a lot more perceptive in terms of picking up body language and details. I feel… More charming. It's weird. It'd be all good if not for the fact that I get inexplicably horny when Pixie is active. Must have something to do with her being of Lovers Arcana. It's Jett's Arcana after all. Every girl (well, most girls) starts looking really good to me and I get… Urges. I make it a point only to switch to her when I need to.

"_**You know you like it,"**_ the flirt in the blue leotard purred in my mind.

Shut the hell up, Pixie.

Out of the three I currently have, Gawain feels the most natural. The most like myself. Again, this would be all good if he weren't such an annoying Jiminy Cricket wannabe.

"_**You wound me."**_

Shut up, Gawain.

"So what's up?" I prompted as we started nearing the school.

"Well, after giving it some thought and considering giving up," I raised an eyebrow at that, "I've decided to stick with this Persona stuff." He smiled a bit at me. "So you can count on me! …Or something like that." I raised an eyebrow at him. There's no way it's that easy.

"That's a pretty quick revelation," I pointed out. "It's only been two days and you were kind of thrown into all of this. How'd you choose so quickly?" We then walked with an odd silence between us that persisted all the way to the school gate. That's when he turned to me and said,

"I've got my reasons." Mysterious. But I guess I'll let it slide. Jett faced the school and started walking away, which is when I remembered I should be trying to advance my Social Links. More friends equals more power and more power equals a faster end to this mission.

"Yo, Jett." I called. That drew some attention. Screw it, just keep going. He's turning back.

"Listen, if we're gonna be working together, it makes sense that we should get to know each other, right? Build trust and all that." He nodded slowly, obviously suspicious of me. "Why don't we hang out sometime outside of school?" He considered it (and by that, I mean for a literal three seconds) before shaking his head now.

"Yeah… No. I kind of can't." He thumbed over his shoulder at some girls standing near the entrance. "It's bad for the reputation, you know?" Well, that bombed. "See ya, man."

Shit. Do something Logan; Jett's walking away. Wait… I have a Lovers Persona; maybe if I… I am going to hate myself for this once this is all over.

Switch to Pixie.

"You know, the way I see it, you're missing out on an opportunity to advance your rep," I said as a sly edge crept into my voice with each word. Jett stopped and fixed me with a puzzled look. Hook.

"Really? How…?" I motioned him to move away from the more crowded areas of the courtyard and near a tree devoid

"Well, if you hang out with the school freak, there are two outcomes." I held out my fist and put one finger up. "First is that your rep is torn to shreds and nobody will ever talk to you again." His face fell and he cut in,

"That's what I've been trying to say, dude."

"But!" I interjected, feeling much like a con artist or a salesman with my arm slung around his neck. "It could make you seem like a pretty brave or nice guy for hanging out with the school freak. Instant rep boost, dude."

Line.

"Well…" he was dancing around an answer, that much was sure from the way he stared down at his shoes, chin in his hand. "You do have a point. Okay, then."

Sinker.

"Alright! Today after school then; we'll go grab a bite. Later, dude." And with that out of the way, I entered school and headed for class.

* * *

MORNING

* * *

We reviewed some more for the test in Psych and, again, I used Angel to help me take notes. It's weird; before I barely took in anything I read or studied but with my Personas, it's like I can feel myself getting smarter. I'm not a genius by any means. It's just easier to study by a ton now.

History class was, of course, another free period with Grey getting himself another detention. I don't know how the kid does it but he does. The rest of the day went as per usual (read 'boring') except for lunch with Ethan. The more we hang out, the cooler he seems. By far my favorite person at this school right now. Real nice guy.

"Hey, Logan," he said to me through a mouthful of turkey sandwich. "You know my favorite part about lunch at this school?"

"No, what's that?" I asked. "The fact that they serve Salisbury steak three days a week?" Ethan laughed good-naturedly and finished the rest of his meal in one bite.

"That's your favorite part," he pointed out. I shrugged my shoulders and kept eating. Undeterred by my disinterest, he continued.

"It's the fact that there are so many different kinds of food in this school alone and I get to try them all. Mix and match, you know? I mean, even I haven't had everything they have to serve here." I gulped down my last bite of steak and looked sadly at my tray, wishing I had more.

"You're kidding, right?" I asked him with a raised eyebrow. "There aren't _that_ many foods here. That'd be a waste of money."

"I know, I know," he laughed. "It's just that I've done that on purpose. Sometimes I bring in food from home to make it so that I haven't had everything here yet." Then he took off his hat and under it was a toothpick and a wet nap that he started cleaning his teeth and face with. Seriously, dude? Okay, I'm curious. I'll bite.

"And why do you do that? It'd make more sense to sample everything here once and then move on, right?" He gave me this shocked look shook his head at me like I was crazy. Okay, maybe I am crazy but still. It's just food.

"Are you kidding?" he cried. "That's just crazy. With good food, Logan, you need to enjoy it. Savor it! You can't just sample it and move on. It's an insult to the chef and you'd be doing yourself a disservice. Don't miss out on good food, man. That's my motto." Ethan had this big grin on his face, no doubt thinking about all the food he hasn't had yet. I allowed myself a smirk. Yep, just a real nice guy who likes some good food. Can't dislike that.

**SMASH!**

_Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Magician Arcana._

Ethan, you are one cool dude.

* * *

AFTERSCHOOL

* * *

Okay, so after school really isn't going as planned. My original plan was to go somewhere with Jett and hang out with him, Pixie in the lead as I try and control my hormones, so that maybe I can advance my Social Link with him. I figured that would happen as we shamelessly ogle girls and talk but Henrietta decided to spoil the party. Go figure.

But I can't really blame her. She's worried about her sister and if it were me in her place, I'd be the same. Okay, maybe I'd worry about Coco but definitely not Riri. Knowing her, she'd make herself a Persona just to kick the ass of the Shadow that dared to try turning her into a meal. Riri is not to be messed with… Either way, this still doesn't make me not mad at Henrietta.

Especially when she's a total mood killer.

She, Jett and I were sitting at a table in the Bazaar's food court amidst the afternoon bustle. It was around four-thirty in the afternoon so there were a ton of people around from school. Needless to say, Jett was having a field day so I grit my teeth and switched to Pixie in order to better…sync with him, I guess. It looks like it's working cuz he doesn't seem to regret his decision to hang out with me despite the stares we're getting and - good GOD, look at the ass on that one!

"_**Focus!"**_

I'm trying, Gawain! Blame Pixie!

"So when are you two going to stop ogling girls and paying attention?" Rietta seethed. "I thought you were going to get ready to go to Reem or whatever it is you call it."

"First, it's 'Rem'," I corrected her. "Second, we didn't invite you to come with us and third, we're tired. We can't go there every night or else we won't have the energy to fight and we die. Then nobody can help Aria." She scoffed in disgust and stormed over to Wild Duck burger muttering something about needing a soda. Again, I get that she's scared but, jeez.

"You know, you could be a little more delicate here," Jett muttered just loud enough for me to hear. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"What's it to you?" I shot. "The only reason you care is so that you look good in front of her, probably." That was probably over the line but I don't care right now.

"_**That defeats the purpose of your Social Link."**_

Shut up, Gawain!

"Maybe, yeah," he shamelessly admitted, "but think about it. Her sister is in trouble and there's jack shit she can do to help her out. They've got to be close when you factor in how impatient she is with us, the only two that can do anything." He stirred the ice in his fast food cup with his straw and continued after taking a sip. It's amazing how understanding he's being. This is Jett we're talking about.

"She may be a cold fish but she cares about her sister, dude."

"I know that, but she doesn't have to be so hostile," I whispered defensively.

"That coming from you is kind of funny," Jett laughed. I froze. Shit, so he has been paying attention. I have to remember that he does that sometimes. I sank in my seat and rested my head in my palm sulkily.

"Okay, fine, I get it," I conceded. "Sorry. But why do you care? It's not like you're friends." Jett shook his curly head at me and snatched a fry off my tray. Brave man. He'll pay for that later.

"She's a girl," he said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Which it _is_. At my raised eyebrow, he clarified. "Not to say that she's weak. It's just that… I dunno, guys have to follow a code of chivalry or something like that, right? When a girl's in trouble, you help her."

"Chivalry is dead," I deadpanned. "Nobody uses it anymore, not even you."

"I follow the parts of chivalry that don't get in the way of me getting some," he explained with a twirl of his hand. He gave me a knowing smirk and popped my stolen fry into his mouth. "That and it just seems like the right thing to do." I processed that for a bit.

"So… You go through girls like a sick man through tissues but you're willing to go out of your way to help one if she needs it," I summarized. He nodded at me and downed the rest of his drink.

"Now you're getting it!" he said proudly, thumping me on the back.

"You are one weird dude," I said to him.

"You're not so normal yourself," he shot back good-naturedly. I'll give him that.

**SMASH!**

_Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Lovers Arcana._

Thanks, but after getting Pixie, it might be a while until then, mysterious voices.

We left the Bazaar after Dark Hour started on the agreement that it gets fucking creepy staying in a place where everyone but you is a glowing black coffin. Jett decided to just head home and rest which is understandable. Henrietta decided to openly stalk me as I walked home through the streets. We noticed that machines and electronics stop working during the Dark Hour, so it was totally safe.

"Aren't you going to go home?" I asked her offhandedly.

"You said I had to go stay with Theo whenever Dark Hour arrived," she reminded me. "I'm just following orders." That last one had quite the bit of sarcasm behind it. I sighed.

"Alright. Okay, you got me there." We continued on for about ten blocks with silence between us. I didn't mind it but I can only guess she must be feeling a little uncomfortable. Whatever… Just focus on something else, Logan.

…As creepy as it is, I kind of like the Dark Hour. It's tranquil and quiet with just the right amount of unsettlement. Kind of like a Tim Burton film. I stole a glance over my shoulder but Henrietta wasn't there anymore. She was walking next to me now, keeping about an arm's length of space away from me with her head down and twiddling her thumbs.

"Fine," I sighed. "I'll bite. What is it?"

"…"

"Well," I prodded.

"It's… Nothing. Nothing important right now, anyway," she dismissed. "Uhm… When are you guys going back into Rem?"

"I dunno; either tomorrow or within the next two days. Why?"

"So I have until then…" she muttered quite audibly. Her eyes were towards her shoes and one hand was clenched into a fist over her heart, inside her purple flame. I raised an eyebrow but decided to let it go. No big deal.

"I'm going on ahead," she announced. "I'll see you later, I guess."

"Yeah, later," I grunted. I watched her leave with a sense of foreboding in my chest. What did she mean by "I have until then"? Maybe that's when Aria gives in to the Apathy Syndrome…? I hope not. She sounded like she was making some huge decision so that can't be it. What could she be planning?

Whatever it is, I hope it isn't anything stupid. Even smart girls have their moments.

* * *

September 16th, 2020

MORNING

St. Yung Private School

* * *

When Jett and I got into school that morning, we couldn't find Henrietta anywhere. At least not on the courtyard. We had to give up searching for her when the first bell rang and everyone started piling inside. I have a therapy session today so I can't afford to be late or that quack spends half the time muttering and lecturing me.

Just as Jett and I were about to go our separate ways, we heard someone hissing at us to come over. Henrietta stood next to the door to the empty stairwell beckoning us over with her eyes. I have a bad feeling about this and Jett seems to, too. Walking over there, I couldn't help but feel something bad was going to happen. Aria's not dead, is she…?

Rietta stood against the wall rubbing her arm like a child who'd misbehaved while Jett and I were just confused. Neither of us urged her to spit it out. It wouldn't do us any good and we'd be stuck here longer. I only hope she spits it out before second bell.

Be careful what you wish for, Logan.

Henrietta's head snapped up and she took a deep breath to steady herself. Letting it out, she looked the two of us dead in the eye determinedly and my heart sunk. I think I know what's coming and I hate when I'm right. I really do.

"I want to go with you," she said decidedly. "Into Rem. I want to save my sister." From behind her eyes, the same red ones I saw the other day gave me the same look, daring me to refuse her demand. Jett didn't say anything. I don't think there's anything he can say. I can't say shit about this, either.

"Okay," I said. Fuck, I thought.

* * *

**Well, I think this was a pretty uneventful chapter by my standards but that sometimes happens in a Persona game. You take a break from battle to work on your Social Links and I've always wondered what the main characters would think about while these were going on. Fun, no? I thought it was. Anyway, next chapter, we head back into Rem and cover a few more floors so we'll see where that takes us.**

**Again, I'd like to warn some of my more...weak-willed readers, for lack of a better term. This IS an M-Rated Fic. Cursing is going to be utilized and it is a very dark fic. I try to put in as much dark humor and sarcasm in as possible (most of that will be from Logan) and there will be moments of stress and high emotion that involve all the characters. So if you're into that, you won't be disappointed.**

**Also, a note to DemonRaily, if you'd like to discuss this fic further, head to Lolli's Forum and look for me. I frequent it and the forum owner, Lolli-S is a great author in her own right. Check out some of her stuff; I doubt you'll be disappointed.**

**A note to all of my readers, I don't just write for this story, guys. I have two other stories in development with this one: Challenger!, my Pokemon fic, and Rhythm Alias. The latter is currently going a redux so be on the lookout for that. I'll send out an alert...somehow when it gets there. Check Lolli's Forum for it since it'll be there most likely. It's in the thread titled ALIAS.**

**Anyway, you guys know the drill. Read, review, and if you can, recommend this fic to your friends. I ask that reviews be detailed and frequent cuz those are the ones that REALLY get me revved up to write more. Constructive criticism's always nice, too. I appreciate it, guys :)**

**Sincerely,**

**Brave Soul RMS**


	8. Bloom, Deadly Black Rose pt3

**Persona Non Grata**

**By:** Brave Soul RMS

**Disclaimer:** None of the Shin Megami Tensei games belong to me nor do any of their characters. They are merely a source of inspiration. I do not claim to be their rightful owner cuz that's Atlus, one of the best game companies on Earth.

**Warning: **It's rated M for a reason, guys. Rated M for a reason.

* * *

**Chapter 007:** Bloom, Deadly Black Rose pt.3

* * *

AFTER SCHOOL

* * *

Why am I in a hospital? I hate hospitals. I don't really know or remember why but I absolutely freaking _hate_ hospitals. Maybe if I had just told Henrietta 'no, you can't come', I wouldn't be here and the smell of sterilizing fluid and the eerily white hallways wouldn't be making my skin crawl. We were waiting at a nursing station while Henrietta was off doing something; I think she mentioned her mom working here but I was too creeped the hell out to pay attention. An elderly patient shuffled her way past me and accidentally bumped my shoulder. I shuddered audibly and Jett snickered at me.

"Shut up," I whispered furiously. "These places just freak me out, okay?"

"Alright, alright," he whispered back. "Don't get your panties in a twist."

"Why are we here, anyway?" Leaning against the wall, Jett didn't register my question. He was too busy checking out a bunch of young nurses across the hall from us. I kicked him in the foot and he jerked back to reality with a dumb look. He glanced back over at where the nurses where and frowned when he saw that they had left.

"What were you saying?"

"I asked why we're here. Quit being such a lech, dude. This hospital's already giving me the creeps." Jett made a face at me and then his face lit up in remembrance.

"Oh, that. Yeah, Rietta's mom is something like Chief of Medicine or Chief Attending here. She's the one assigned to most of the Apathy Syndrome cases so, yeah. Rietta's sister is the one we're trying to save, remember?"

"Oh…" I guess I honestly forgot. Thinking about it just made me regret saying "yes" to Henrietta when she asked if she could fight with us. What the hell ever possessed me to say that in the first place? And why the hell do I feel like this about it, anyway? It's not my problem.

"_**Not saving her sister results in you failing your mission, and an innocent victim falling to Apathy Syndrome,"**_ Gawain reminded me. Inside my mind, I sighed. It's only been a week and already I have to make decisions like this so as soon as Aria's safe, I'm taking a vacation. At least from having to think like this. Screw it if anyone else gets attacked.

"You all right?" Jett asked, sounding genuinely concerned. Weird, I never thought I'd hear that from him. He just keeps on surprising me. Thinking quickly, I formed a sort of half-truth to answer him with.

"Yeah, it's just that hospitals seriously mess me up. The thought of a place filled with sick people isn't really the greatest, you know?" He nodded in understanding and walked up next to me.

"I get it," he said as he patted my back. "Guess even you can have that one thing that freaks you out."

"…This is the ICU, right?" I asked out of sudden curiosity.

"Yeah, should be. Why?" I looked around and took a few tentative steps towards the direction Rietta moved in. Catching on, Jett followed behind me as we navigated the semi-crowded hallway that led to the Apathy Syndrome patients. The door third from the last in that hall was designated as the room of "Mackenzie, A".

"Dude, why are we here?" Jett answered only to receive silence. I peered my head into the room and Henrietta and what had to be both her mother and Aria's doctor. The resemblance was strong there but the girl in the bed was -

"God damn, _that's _Rietta's sister?" Not exactly the most eloquent sentence but Jett was right. Even while in a coma, Aria Mackenzie is hot. Straight dark hair, round face, and from the look of the lumps under her gown -

"Dayum." Again, thank you, Jett.

"How is she?" I barely heard Henrietta ask. "Any changes?"

"She's been in REM sleep more often and for longer periods of time as of late but other than that, no," said her mom. She sounded haggard and overworked and looked just as bad. Normally, that's to be expected from a doctor but the bags under her eyes were really dark. Another look at Aria immediately told me why that was and I started to feel even worse.

Why did I say 'yes'?

Henrietta edged closer to her sister's hospital bed and took Aria's hand in hers. Dr. Mackenzie, her heart no doubt breaking as she watched on, loomed over them like a pale, tired specter while Henrietta just stared at her big sister's sleeping face. No words were said. Henrietta didn't even shed any tears even though her eyes were shining with them. She's a cold bitch at school and to everybody else around her but watching this happen tells me that, at the very least, her family is important to her. In that sense, I guess…

"_**You and the girl are not so different,"**_Angel hummed.

_Yeah. Not so different._

…Then why is it that on any other day of the week, I can not give a shit about anybody else - completely ignore them and everything they say - but when I see things like this, it gets a rise out of me? I start to care. I notice the smallest things so clearly. And why is it that the more time I spend with Jett, the more I start to li - …Tolerate him?

Maybe that's why I said Henrietta she could come?

…That's it. I need to speak to Igor as soon as possible.

Coming back to reality, I watched Henrietta get up and give her sister one last look. She hugged her mom tight while exchanging whispered words and wiped her eyes. Jett scampered away from the door before she crossed the threshold but she didn't seem to notice he was there. She turned silently to me and again, I saw those red eyes literally stare into my soul and at Gawain. The thought to check her Arcana number suddenly occurred to me; it was thirteen. One is Magician, six is Lovers, and four is Emperor. What's thirteen?

_Gawain?_

"_**Yes, Master Logan?"**_

_I have to let her fight, don't I? For her sister._

"_**It seems that you must. Would you not do the same for your own?"**_

_I would. …She has a Persona and I already said she could. There's no way out without screwing myself over here.._

"_**None to speak of."**_

_This is gonna suck, isn't it?_

"_**Indeed."**_

* * *

September 18th, 2020

LUNCHTIME

St. Yung Private School

* * *

"Logan? Logan!"

Huh, what? Oh, yeah, it's lunchtime. Ethan's here. Why is my steak untouched?

"You've barely eaten, man," he noticed. "What's up? You look zoned." This guy is way nicer than most people I've met. I've known him about a week and he acts like I'm an old friend. I picked at my steak trying to find an answer. Might as well ask him a 'hypothetical' question.

"Ethan, say you make a promise," I began slowly. "A promise to a, uhm… Friend." I barely consider Henrietta an acquaintance. Oh, well, keep going. "And you don't think that you're gonna be able to keep it." Ethan put on a puzzled face.

"Why wouldn't you be able to keep it?" A few more seconds of silence (relative silence since we were, well, in a giant cafeteria) before my reply.

"Keeping that promise requires letting that friend do something dangerous. Life-threatening.'

"Oh…" He set his turkey sandwich down and put a hand to his chin. "Well… A promise is a promise, I usually say," Great, dude, that helps my conflict a lot, "but in this case, I don't know. I'd rather not have my friend get hurt, or worse, because of me." That helps even less.

"Not really helpful, man," I said aloud.

"I know; sorry," he apologized. "Never really had to deal with something like that, y'know?"

"It's fine. No big deal. It's my problem, anyway. Sorry." Ethan took off his hat and took a big gulp of his drink.

"Don't worry about it," he said, grinning. "We're friends. Friends help each other." It's really as simple as that?

Lunch ended. The cafeteria slowly emptied its population. Jett signaled me over to him and asked if we were going to Rem tonight once Dark Hour arrived. I told him we were and then he continued, saying Henrietta was looking really antsy today and kept asking him questions about what Aria's dreamscape was like. Jett really didn't have many answers and thought that I would. I didn't.

* * *

AFTERSCHOOL

* * *

Home. Riri's here. She looked up from BlazBlue when I walked through the door and tossed me a Pepsi.

"Hey, little brother. What's up?"

"Tired. Confused." I popped open the Pepsi. "Thirsty." She chuckled and went back to her game.

"Yeah, high school will do that to you. That's why I don't miss it." Riri patted the seat on the couch next to her. "C'mon, unwind," she offered. "Play a little BlazBlue."

"You forgot to pause," I pointed out.

"Huh?" When she looked back, Taokaka was doing a victory pose while Noel, her player, was unconscious on the ground. "Oh, fuck you, Tao! You catty bitch!"

"And that was a horrible pun." I plopped down next to her and grabbed a controller. "So where's Coco?"

"With Mom buying stuff for dinner. We're having vegan lasagna tonight."

"Again? Dude, I can't take this anymore. I need meat." Character selection. Now, who to go with? Arakune's creepy as hell, Bang's a tool, and Jin is just… Jin. Ragna the Bloodedge all the way.

"I know, bro. And you always go with Ragna!" she objected loudly.

"He's my favorite," I shrugged. "Deal with it." Riri grunted at me and went with Noel again. "Prepare to die, bitch."

"Bring it, ya little pissant." Ragna VS Noel. Me VS my sister. I swear, she's been practicing at this cuz I usually wipe the floor with her face but jeez. In the end, I won. Black Onslaught, baby. I love Astral Finishes. When I won my third match in a row, she threw her hands up and put me in a friendly headlock.

"You! Every single time!" she mock-shouted. "I can never beat you!" I pushed her off me with a smirk and a laugh.

"And you know this because I own you, Rielle Martin. Say my name!" Riri threw me to the ground in a suplex maneuver and pounced.

"Never!" she screamed. But right when we were about to dive into yet another epic sibling battle, my phone rang. God damn it, who the hell is calling me in the middle of hanging out with my big sister?

"Who the hell is that? We were just about to start up another MSWF fight!" griped Riri.

"Hello?"

"_Logan?"_

"…Henrietta?"

"Oooh, a girl?" God damn it, Riri, not the time. "Who is it?"

"Yeah, not now." I ran into the kitchen before she could think of a response.

"Oh, you pussy!"

"…_Who was that?"_

"My older sister. One of them, anyway. How did you get this number?"

"_Jett gave it to me."_

"Remind me to kill him later. What is it?"

"_I was just wondering if you were going to go into Rem tonight," _she said meekly. _"And if I was still allowed to come."_

"Oh…" Crap. The universe just likes killing my buzz, doesn't it?

"Oh?"

"Look, it's like, a quarter to six, right? Just show up; I'll think of something," I said quickly. "Bye."

"_But, wait, I need to -" _Not dealing with this right now.

BZZZZZZ!

And it rings again. Who this time?

"What?"

"_Logan. Master Igor would like to speak with you tonight."_ Why don't I recognize this voice?

"Uhm, sorry but who is this?"

"Telemarketers?" Riri suggested.

"_Margaret."_ Oh, that explains it. She barely speaks and I haven't seen her in a week.

"Oh, you. What is it?" I asked as Riri suddenly slinked up to me and put her ear to my phone to try and catch parts of the conversation.

"_I just said,"_ Margaret replied with a hint of annoyance. _"Master Igor requests you come see him tonight in the Velvet Room."_

"But I've never been able to get there outside of my dreams," I said while trying to dodge my sister. "Riri, no! It's private!"

"Like I care! I wanna know!"

"Nosy gossiper!"

"_A doorway has been constructed for you at your base of operations. I trust you still have the Velvet Key." _I checked my pockets and my hand closed around something small and metal. Yep, it's the key.

"Yeah."

"_Good. Be there at six sharp. Do not worry; this is purely to track your progress thus far. We shall be looking forward to your visit." _Margaret hung up before I could ask her anything else. Sighing, I stole a look at the clock on the microwave. Ten to six. Better get moving.

"Listen, Riri, I gotta go," I muttered quickly. "Play without me, alright?" Catching the tone in my voice, she backed off and gave me my space.

"Okay. But why so serious?" she asked, genuinely concerned.

"It's a personal matter. Shrink wants to see me," I lied. That hurt. I don't like lying to my sisters. Riri put a hand on my shoulder and forced me to look her in the eye.

"Did you get into something?" she asked barely above a whisper. I shook my head. "Then what is it?"

"Session I missed last week cuz of my math test." Cringe. "I have to go make it up and this is the only time they had free. Personal crap took up more of his time. Sorry." She was rightfully skeptical but, after a little bit, she accepted the lie.

"Alright. I'll tell Mom where you are, okay?" I nodded and headed for the door. "Hey!" I stopped and turned to look at her. She was smirking but I could tell she was just worrying like always. For a brief second and for whatever reason, what Gawain asked me last night flashed back from inside my memory, as did my answer to him.

I thought of Henrietta and Aria and how Henrietta must have been feeling right now, powerless to get her big sister back.

I thought of myself and the guilt I felt when Jett got his Persona.

I thought about what would happen if we got Aria to wake up only for her to find out that her sister died because of a Shadow. Because of me. I can't let that happen. If not because I don't want to feel that guilty, then because I know how it'd feel to lose a sister.

"Don't get yourself shot, kid," Riri smirked. I clenched my fist, mind made up.

"I won't."

* * *

The sun was low in the sky when I met up with Jett on my way to the cul-de-sac. He was fully equipped with his weapons and the Rash Guard and at least looked to be fully adjusted to this whole Persona thing. Must have something to do with the reason he has for keeping on but I don't know for sure. It's none of my business, anyway.

"So what are you going to tell Rietta?" he asked me in the middle of finishing off an apple. "I mean, you said that she could come and help us fight and save her sister but she doesn't have a Persona." I glared at him but he didn't flinch like usual. Guess he's gotten used to it.

"Well?" he asked when I refused to speak.

"She does have a Persona," I droned. "But it hasn't awoken yet so I made up my mind; she's not fighting."

"Why not?" I seriously don't want to talk about this. I already said I made up my mind. "You told her she could," he insisted, sounding genuinely annoyed by the fact that I basically went back on my word. I kept my mouth shut until we got to Theo's setup. Fuck, Henrietta's early.

"Dude, why won't you let her?" Jett pressed me.

"Won't let me what?" And she heard him. God damn it.

"He's not letting you fight," he said to her before turning back to me. "Dude."

"What?" she shrieked indignantly. God damn it. "You told me clearly that I could!"

"You don't have a Persona," I said flatly, trying to keep calm. "You'd be a liability."

"She'd be a what?" Jett asked. God damn it…

"He means I'd get in the way," the girl in question explained irritably. "And why is that?"

"…" She fiercely grabbed my hand and shook it like I was some kind of piggy bank full of answers. I glared at her, trying to convey the message "let me go" with my eyes as hard as I could. She obviously got it but didn't want to listen.

God damn it!

"Why is that?" she pushed again, this time more calmly.

"You would get in the way!" I shouted angrily. "Jesus, Jett! She can't fight, she'd get in the way and I can't be guarding her the entire time!" Stunned silence from Jett. Same from Rietta. Jett had this look like he had a puzzle in front of him and was trying to solve it and then,

"You're worried?" he guessed. "No, wait. Guilty." Goddamn him. Why is he only smart when I don't want him to be? "You don't want to drag her into this."

"Whoopie, you guessed right," I growled, continuing forward to Theo to get my gauntlets. "Can we get moving now?" Change the subject, Logan. Put on your gauntlets and change the subject.

"Theo, Margaret gave me a call earlier about Igor -"

"Then why did you tell her that she can join with us and fight?"

"I don't know, alright?" I screamed. Jett jumped back and his hands rose up in defense of himself. Henrietta was unfazed.

"I don't know!" Silence. Henrietta stood furthest from me with an unreadable expression. I know what she wants: an explanation. I struggled to form one.

"Just… I don't know." I gave an exasperated sigh and kicked the table. I snarled. Why can't this be easier? "Her sister and the hospital and she really sounded like she wanted to help. I don't know why I said it, okay? I just did. I shouldn't have but I did!"

More silence. I gave them what they wanted. Why aren't they saying anything? Fine, I'll break the silence.

"Screw this, man. I'm not up for going any further today. I'm going home." Henrietta gave a shocked gasp and Jett hung his head with a sigh. Theodore was still silent as a mouse but I could feel his disapproving eyes boring into my back. I don't care what he thinks.

"_**You do."**_

Gawain, not now.

"If that's what you want," Jett finally

I took ten steps and then found myself under the irritated gaze of Henrietta Mackenzie. I heaved a sigh and cast Theo a tired glance but he just shrugged. "You're on your own", his body language said. What else was new?

"Where are you going?" Henrietta lashed, her tone biting.

"Home," I repeated.

"You can't leave yet. Dark Hour hasn't even started yet!" As if on freakin' cue, the Dark Hour started up right then and there. I swear, it has got a great sense of dramatic timing. Stay calm, Logan. She's only worried about her sister.

"I'm tired," was my droned reply. "I can't risk dying out there, can I?" Starting forward, I shouldered my way past her and a still silent Jett and plotted a course for home. Henrietta wasn't having any of that; she took my wrist in a vice grip and tried holding me back. Do I look back at her face or just keep leaving?

"That's a crap excuse," she told me in a low voice. You noticed? How observant, Henrietta. Not like anyone could see that.

"Logan, man, you said yourself that we have to do this," a nervous Jett pointed out, "so you can't just turn your back on it."

"You promised you'd help my sister," she chimed in. "You promised you'd let me fight for her." Her voice was low and threatening and sounded like the voice of a person betrayed.

"I didn't say I'd leaver her out to dry," I countered impatiently. "I'm just tired, alright?" She glared up at me, her pale face set in a deeper scowl than normal, and despite me topping her by four inches and probably being stronger than her, she rose her hand to slap me. I blocked with my gauntlet and the only sign of pain that she gave was a slight wince. Okay, so this girl is tough. Big whoop.

"Let me leave, Henrietta."

"It's Rietta! And not until you let me go with you."

"I don't want to. I'll come back tomorrow. You don't have a Persona." All excuses, Logan. All of them.

"So what?" she screamed. Annoyed, I turned away again but she forced me to turn around and look at her. The defiant look she was giving me. It made me madder. I'd much prefer her normal uncaring face right now. Why can't she just disappear and let me do this on my own? Why is there so much drama only after a week of this shit? I started losing it.

"Why the hell are you so hellbent on this, anyway?" I screamed back, even though I knew full well why. "Just back the hell off and let me do this on my own time!" Henrietta's brown eyes turned as dark as coals and she slapped me as hard as possible. Holding my cheek, I was sure there was an imprint of her hand there.

"Shit…" I heard Jett breathe.

"If it were _your_ family in there, you wouldn't be saying that!" shrieked Henrietta. Of course I wouldn't. But I can't… I can't let her…

"Do you even have anything to say?" the girl seethed. I have the feeling I shouldn't open my mouth considering that answering her questions led to this. She huffed in response to the absence of an answer before gritting her teeth and reaching for my belt. I jumped back but the chick had quick hands and in the time it took me to blink, she had my Evoker in her hands and pointed at her head. Jett jumped from his seat and dashed, intending to stop Henrietta, I guess. Theo's initial gasp turned into a shout the second he found out why she'd taken the Evoker.

"This is how it's done, right?" she asked nobody in particular. Alarmed and wary, Jett stopped in his tracks and held his hands up defensively. I need to remind him later that the Evoker isn't a real gun. For the twenty-second time this week. Henrietta's eyes flashed purple and I again saw the red eyes hiding behind hers. They looked surprised and a little expectant, even, but at the same time gave me the notion that their owner wanted this. I sure as hell didn't.

"If you're not going in there tonight," Henrietta announced loudly, "then I will!"

"Don't you dare pull that trigger," I warned her.

Click.

"Persona!"

**BANG!**

Rather than just fly out of her head and start spiraling, the glass shards sort of bloomed like a flower would and formed a ring around her feet as the blue fog rolled in. Then the shards multiplied, rising upwards. Henrietta's eyes were still glowing a brilliant purple color as her Persona began to take form and speak its first words.

"_**I am thou,"**_ a regal voice rang out. As usual, the Persona's voice sounds like its users, only slightly aged up. A ropey vine riddled with thorns was the first thing to appear. It curled into an arch and its ends spiraled around like they were trying to fit something. A second later, a pair of pure black arms started to materialize from the fingertips on up within the coiling ends of the vines.

"_**Thou art I." **_The Persona's black legs materialized the same way as the hands and her face came into view as if coming out of the fog. Coal black, its clearly female face was round and beautiful but her mouth was practically invisible. In sharp contrast with the color of the face, her eyes were big and glowing ruby red while her hair was snow white and reached down to her back.

"_**From the garden of thy soul, I grow and bloom." **_An earthy brown Tinkerbell-styled dress was next to come into view along with a pair of giant tattered fairy wings. A white rose appeared, set in between her large chest, and two thorny vine rings coiled around her ankles, black roses growing in their centers. Next thing I knew, a huge black rose grew in the center of the thorn arch with two smaller white ones flanking it.

"_**I am Mandragora, the Deadly Black Rose."**_

The glow faded from Henrietta's eyes as her Persona settled elegantly behind her, wings occasionally flapping, as Jett and I stared on. He was awed, I was… I didn't know what I was.

"I have a Persona now," was the first thing she said. "Now you have to let me fight." The air dropped ten degrees. Theo silently handed her the spear I got a few nights ago from the card shuffle and she tested it out in her hands.

"This will do fine," she decided. "Now let's go." Determination. Defiance. There's no way I'm getting out of this one.

"I have an appointment with Igor," I said flatly. More excuses. Even now? She roughly pushed past me, Persona fading, and took a spot next to the elevator lever.

"I don't care. Let's move." I sighed. No way out now. Fucking damn it…

"Fine," I conceded. "But give me back my Evoker and I'll get you your own. I gotta head back home first." She raised an eyebrow at me in suspicion.

"I won't leave. I'll take him with me if you don't trust me on my own," I assured her, pointing at Jett." No objections from him.

"Fine but make it quick," demanded Henrietta. Jett shrugged and jogged over to me while I made my way towards my house, a big grin on his face.

"Dude," he said excitedly, "that had to be the coolest thing I've ever seen a girl do."

"The slapping me thing or summoning?" I asked. "And choose carefully." His grin grew and added a bit of smugness to it in the process.

"Both," he laughed.

Jackass.

* * *

DARK HOUR

Tangled Bloom Dreamscape

* * *

It was like nothing I'd ever seen before. While she practically scampered back to the elevator when she saw her first Brute, Henrietta somehow manned up and showed an amazing grasp on how to use her Persona and was shooting off spells left and right. One of them flash froze her targets and had a chance to ice them over so Jett and I could beat up on it, the other one made Shadows go berserk and start attacking each other, and her last one was some kind of magic circle boosted by purple flames that sometimes got an instant kill. From what I heard, they're called Bufu, Tentarafoo, and Mudo respectively. She also has a shit ton more SP than me and Jett so she barely had to replenish after a fight. Henrietta was afraid but she still fought.

On the other hand, the most she could do with her spear was stab and smack but she rarely had to use it. If I weren't pissed, I'd be more impressed. Then we got down to the Waypoint and into her sister's dreamscape. She was silent for a bit when we first touched down but then figured something out. At least that's my judgement based on the "Eureka" look on her face. So she knows this place?

"You know this place?" Jett asked. What is he, psychic?

"My family has this huge flower garden in our backyard," she explained slowly. "We used to spend minute of free time in it when we were younger. Apart from the weirder varieties, this is pretty much a scaled up replica."

"Your garden has a hedge maze?" I deadpanned. She shot me a glare filled with venom. Got it; still pissed about earlier.

"Yes," she spat. "Let's just keep going."

We took the elevator back down to the fourth floor where Jett and I had stopped on Wednesday before taking another few days off to rest. Sad thing was, before that night, we had only made it up to floor three. One floor of progress. Whee.

_~Odd~_ mumbled Theo.

"Odd?" asked Jett. "What's odd? I don't like the sound of 'odd'."

_~There are absolutely no Shadows on this floor~_

"…What?"

_~No Shadows at all~_ Theo repeated. _~It's like they all up and vanished. This is not good; that normally means that there are more Shadows on the next floor~_

"Awesome," was my sarcastic reply. Shooting Henrietta glance, I followed up with, "Still happy you came here tonight?" She opted to just glare rather than say anything.

Floor five. We've made some progress tonight but we avoided a lot of Shadows. That means less power. I hope I know what I'm doing.

_~Again, odd. This time, there seem to be fewer Shadows than normal. I wonder why that is…~_

Just ignore him, Logan. It's probably nothing.

…Oh, who the fuck am I kidding? It's something and it's something huge.

"_You're here?" _came Aria's voice, barely above a whisper. Didn't stop all of us from freezing on the spot when we heard her.

"Is that my sister?" asked Henrietta.

"Yeah," I groaned. "And when she speaks, it's generally not good for anyone."

"Why not?" Her answer came in the sound of flapping. A shit ton of flapping. It was like being in the center of a massive flock of ravens and the sound of their wings beating completely drowned out everything else. Chills shot down my spine and Jett started running forward. I was about to call him a coward until he signaled to us to keep running. I'm not one to argue with a smart decision.

"_You're here?" _Aria screeched. Is she talking about Henrietta?

"_I can't believe you'd violate my privacy like this!" _her rant continued, amazingly, over the deafening wing beats. _"This is unforgivable, Henrietta!"_

Henrietta stopped.

"What?" she breathed. "Why… Why does she sound so mad?" Why can I hear her? Oh, the beating stopped. That can't be good.

"We saw some memories," Jett reeled off at light speed as he ran. "The time before the last time we were in here. Something about her sister changing. I don't know what she was talking about but she sounded mad." Henrietta took in a sharp breath and clutched her hand tighter around her spear.

"I've changed…?" she whispered. "What is she talking about?"

"I don't know," I said, grabbing her arm, "but we won't find out by standing here. Let's move." She gave no objections and ran behind me as Jett led the way forward.

A few twists and turns later, we get to another open area and it starts raining. Didn't even know it even rained in a place like this.

_~Shadows!~ _Theo suddenly barked. _~They're coming at you now!~_

"What's with the rain?" I demanded. "It lands on us but only the ground gets wet."

_~This place is essentially Aria's subconscious; it's tied to her emotional state. Something's made her shift from neutral to angry and it's affecting the landscape~ _

...Wait, if this place is tied to Aria's emotional state... Oh, crud, rain can't be good. The rain fell heavier now and thunder rolled towards us. A flash of lightning cut the sky open and lit up the wound long enough to blind us and when we could see again, we were hit with quite the sucker punch. The landscape... It...

First, the sky had been completely overtaken by thunderheads and it rained freely but it didn't help the now dead flowers. They'd withered and browned until they were but husks and pure black dead leaves littered the ground. One look at the hedges told me that's where they came from; they were turning gray now, with hardly any green left over and huge patches of leaves were just gone, revealing a tangled network of black branches inside. Thin ivy burst from the ground and snaked its way around the flowers that were lucky enough to live and we watched as their life and color was drained from them. The ivy grew thicker and developed thorns in the process.

This is bad.

**ROAAAAAR**

**CRASH**

That's even worse.

A Grave Beetle charged in through the furthest hedge wall on the left while a hoard of Cupid Shadows poured in from the exit twenty yards away on the other side of the clearing, the sound of their wings deafening but nowhere near as bad as what we heard earlier. Organizing themselves into a line, they each took an arrow out at the same time and readied their bows. All of them were pointed towards us. All was silent. The Grave Beetle broke it by taking flight above the battalion of archer Shadows and roared at us again.

This is gonna suck.

"Logan…" Jett whimpered as the sound of twenty bowstrings being tightened filled the air, a thunderclap following after. One look at Henrietta and I saw that she was really regretting her decision to come with us. Her knuckles were white, her eyes wide, and her skin was paler than before. Some first night in Rem she's having.

"Jett, on my signal, you and I are gonna use Garu after they fire. Then, Henrietta, start casting that Tentara-whatever as many times as possible on as many of them as possible. I'll get you Snuff Souls later," I reeled off as fast as I could. "You guys got it?" Numb nods from both.

"Good."

The black Cupids let out a unified squeal of hate as they let their wall of arrows fly at us. A literal second later, the Grave Beetle rushed at us leading with its horn and roaring its head off.

"Angel!"

"Eros!"

**BANG!**

My and Jett's Personas rose with purpose and gave their wings one mighty flap each to generate a combined gale. Like a bullet, it rocketed into the arrow wall, blasted it apart, and bowled the Grave Beetle away and through another hedge wall.

"NOW!" I roared at Henrietta.

"T-Tentarafoo!" she cried in fear. Her Persona responded by flying into the sky and locking her sights on one of the Cupids. Threads of purple light shot from Mandragora's fingertips and spiraled inwards on her target. The effect was instant; the Cupid whirled around and started shooting off arrows wildly and indiscriminately. Henrietta called for the spell again and again, earning mixed results, until her flame was a third of its normal size. I legged it over to her and dug a tin of Snuff Soul out of my pocket to press into her hands.

"You have two?" she asked breathlessly before stuffing the blue tobacco in her mouth.

"Well, three," I answered just as quickly.

"How?"

"I'm special!" I shouted over my shoulder, already on my way into the fray. I heard an Evoker go off and Eros appeared throwing his morning star at a Cupid and pancaking it to the ground. That got Jett an arrow in the shoulder that left him open to a body check by one of the little bastards. I stopped to go help him and suddenly my left calf exploded in pain as an arrow embedded itself into it. Looking over my shoulder with a snarl, I saw the Cupid that shot me readying another arrow with deadly ease. Just as it was about to fire, it was flash frozen on the spot and when the ice around it exploded, the shards flew through it and tore it to bits. Gotta remember to thank Henrietta for exposing their weakness.

Two Cupids dead. Eighteen to go.

I yanked the arrow out of my calf and called forth Gawain to unleash a razing blast of fire at two nearby Cupids and then another one winged its way to me brandishing an arrow as a weapon. With a loud battle shout, I belted it straight in the mask and managed to crack it.

_~They're near your group's level of strength, Logan. A few hits should take them out but remember they are dangerous~_ Theo informed me.

"Got it!" I grunted. The Cupid I hit staggered backwards towards the two I burned earlier and joined them in readying their bows. Quick as lightning, they fired at me but I was thankfully quick enough to summon Gawain to block with his shield arm then switch to Pixie to heal my calf. Somehow, I think Jett would have done a better job but it'll do for now. At least I can move.

"Zio!" I called Pixie out again and had her drop three lightning bolts each on the Shadows to obliterate them. "Jett, regroup with Henrietta!"

"No need!" he shouted back. What? I took a second to check up on her and, amazingly, Henrietta was smacking two of the bastards back while they were making the mistake of rushing her head on. A closer look told me they were all out of arrows, three of which were embedded in the shaft of Henrietta's spear while a fourth was in her thigh. A few feet from her, two of the Cupids hexed by her confusion spell were having a legit Mexican standoff that ended with them killing each other by firing arrows through the other's mask. Henrietta let out a squeak at getting struck in the chin by one of her opponent's bows and ran it through with her spear. It pulled itself off, only to get struck by lightning courtesy of me while its buddy tried going for Henrietta's head.

Henrietta caught the bow strike with her spear and pushed it off with surprising strength from a girl so small. She put her Evoker to her head and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

"I summon thee!" she cried in a rather dorky way but it didn't diminish Mandragora's arrival at all. The pixie…thing made the black rose on her arch bloom and drew a magic circle in the air with purple light. The four cardinal points on the circle lit up with dark purple flame in front of the Cupid Shadow and suddenly, the little monster was consumed in the stuff and burned away in a blink.

"Nine down!" I cried. "Jett, regroup!" Jett had managed to kill three Shadows on his own, so that made twelve dead, but not without taking an arrow in the shoulder for his trouble. His face was bruised, too, and he was breathing kinda heavy. I switched to Pixie and wrenched the arrow out of his shoulder before healing it.

"OW!" he screamed. "Dude!"

"Now we're even for the Beetle fight," I responded. He grumbled something but I was too pumped full of adrenaline to hear or care.

"That thing is still down," Henrietta pointed out. Indeed, the beetle was still flailing in attempts to get back up and take its revenge. Jett gingerly removed the arrow in her thigh and had Eros heal it. She muttered a thanks and blushed. Note to self: remind her of that when we get out of here.

"We'll explain everything later," I told her. "Thanks to your impatience, we really didn't have a chance to. But for now, just keep using those ice spells. The Cupids are weak to them." I switched to Gawain and had him block arrows the moment the remaining eight Cupids took aim. We can't keep fighting them separately.

"Okay, listen, we need to stay together," I grunted. "No more separate fighting or else we're gonna get our asses kicked. We surround them and each take a few targets and pick 'em off, okay?"

"Got it," answered Jett.

"Okay," said Henrietta. I told them to form a triangle with me around the Cupids and close in. I figure the closer we are, the less time they have to reload their bows and shoot.

I was right.

The instant Gawain returned to me, we charged in headlong, Jett supporting us by blocking arrows with Garu until we reached them. We formed the triangle and closed in like a pack of lions, causing the Cupids to visibly tense. Good, I was right.

"Now wail on 'em!" I opened up by grabbing the head of the one nearest to me and smashing it into my knee. Shattered mask equals dead Shadow. Seven left. Jett summoned Eros to use Bash and sweep two Shadows away from Henrietta, who followed up with two Bufu spells to finish the job. Five. I called Gawain forward for a Cleave and he ran one Cupid through before ripping his blade arm out of it and bisecting it. Another Cleave drained me of some energy but paid off when Gawain ended up chopping an arm off another Shadow. Four left.

"Mudo!" Mandragora's spell unfortunately failed to one-shot the cupid but she made up for it by stabbing it through the mask and ending it. Three. Another Bufu spell made sure another one died. Two.

The remaining two Shadows flapped their wings and shot upwards into the air before unleashing two arrows each at the three of us. Jett managed to escape with a glancing cut to his face and Henrietta got shot in the arm and dropped her spear. A moment later, Eros' morning star rammed into the tiny body of one of the Cupids and knocked it right out of the sky. It straightened up a few feet from the ground but I was there in a second and punched it out of existence. One more. I turned my head up to find it but it was already encased in a tomb of ice that exploded and ripped it apart. Looked like it wasn't enough because it was still alive. Can't have that.

Pixie, come forth.

"Zio!"

Now it's dead.

Twenty dead Shadows. Fuck yeah. …I am so tired. Henrietta practically dropped herself on the floor, her hand to her heart as she caught her breath.

Our Personas each appeared to collect their piece of the pie but, curiously, Pixie was there instead of Gawain. She condensed the blue lights into a ball the size of a blueberry which Pixie promptly ate. I felt a surge of power inside me and Pixie twirled happily.

**_"Yay! Yay!"_** she cheered.**_ "Level up! Looks like I learned a new skill!"_**

"Rakunda," I blurted.

"Which does?" Jett asked between breaths.

"Hell if I - UGH!" I found myself being pushed away from Jett and Henrietta at a breakneck speed and then abruptly stopped when I was slammed into the hedge wall. I screamed. That hurt a lot more than it should have. Why did that hurt so much?

**_"Pixie has low endurance!"_** shouted Gawain. **_"Summon me!"_** I'm not about to argue with him on this one but I can't reach my Evoker. Turns out I dropped it when I got hit. I strained to open my eyes and found the masked horn of the Grave Beetle pressing into my chest with increasing force and the actual Shadow's beady black orbs glaring at me in hate. How'd I forget about him?

_~Push it off!~_

I gasped, which turned out to be a big mistake because it let the beetle push harder on my ribcage. I can't take this; this is torture. Move, Logan, move! I switched Gawain in as my main Persona and forced my fingers under the Grave Beetle's mask and tried to get both my hands in there. Seeing what I was trying to do, the Beetle flared its wings open and propelled itself further forward and into the wall, forcing me to dig my feet into the ground. No more pushing me around. Not after the last one! Screwing my eyes shut, I ground my teeth together and slowly pushed the beetle's horn off my ribcage. It gave a violent push and knocked me into the wall again but I recovered and managed to roll out of the way in time and leg it back over to the other two with it right on my tail.

Spotting my Evoker on the ground, I made a hard left towards it and ducked down to pick it up and place it under my chin, thinking of the first of Gawain's spells that came to me.

"Tarukaja!" I bellowed. Appearing above me, Gawain placed an open palm above my head and the jewel in his hand bathed me in an orange light. He faded, leaving me wondering what the hell just happened and three seconds away from getting reamed by the beetle again. Might as well brace for impact!

**THUD!**

I caught the beetle's horn and got pushed back like I expected but dug in anyway, trying to slow it down. The weird thing was, I did. The beetle pushed but I pushed back and was matching its strength with my own! I was deadlocking the beetle! Did that light do this? Tarukaja must boost my strength!

"Oh, HELL, yeah, baby!" With a grunt of effort, I shoved the Shadow back and punched it in the eye with enough force to make it burst. Ignoring the spray of ichor that flew into me, I flipped the Shadow over onto its back and hopped up onto its exposed stomach. Activating the piledrivers in my gauntlets, I let the beetle have everything I could in one punch and actually drove it into the ground. It shrieked in pain. I grinned in pleasure.

"Logan, get off it!" Jett screamed as he readied his Evoker. I jumped, much higher than normal, and Jett unleashed a Garu on the beetle, obviously remembering its weakness. The Emperor Shadow flew into the sky flailing for its life and was encircled by a Mudo spell that, thankfully, ended it in one.

"Since when could you do that?" demanded a breathless and clearly shocked Henrietta. "I mean, that should have been impossible. With your body mass and level of strength, the most you should have done was annoy that thing!"

"Since I used Tarukaja," I grunted. Digging a Medicine vial out of my pocket, I downed it like a shot and shuddered as I felt my wounds heal.

"And that!" she stuttered. "Medicine can't act that quickly and wounds don't heal that fast!" I gave her a flat look and wiped the ichor off my face.

"In the past twenty minutes, you summoned your Persona, cast three different kinds of magic spells, and learned the basics of how to fight with a spear," I pointed out. "That and you're currently inside your sister's subconscious mind while she's in a coma at the hospital." That shut her up. And made her jaw drop as the realization that all of that happened just hit her.

"Looks like the adrenaline's worn off," Jett snickered.

"I… How did I forget that…? Was I not paying attention?" she mumbled in a monotone.

"Yeah," I snorted. "And you're bugging me about punching a giant beetle's eye out." I downed another vial and pointed towards the exit on the other side of the clearing. "Find an express elevator. It's break time. Ten minutes and we go back."

* * *

**Another chapter down! Next one will be very long and will close the arc by finally saving Aria! THIS I SWEAR! I'VE ALREADY GOT 5 PAGES OF IT WRITTEN!**


	9. Sisterly Love

**Persona Non Grata**

**By: **Brave Soul RMS

**Disclaimer: **You know I don't own the franchise. Stop making me feel bad about myself!

**Warning: **Rated M. Nuff said.

* * *

**Chapter 008: **Sisterly Love

We had headed back up to the surface after that. Theo was there as usual, and was actually nice enough to have packed sandwiches in his magical bag of wonder for us to eat. When we got back up to the surface, though, we got a huge boost in stamina and our SP instantly refilled. Our wounds were still there, though, but whatever. I guess leaving Rem gives us back all our stamina and energy. At least I was feeling better than I had been a moment before.

After twenty minutes and a few more battles and bruises, floor six was cleared and I decided to just call it a night. I was beaten and the aftereffects of that strength-boosting spell I (may have over)used were taking their toll on me. Need to remember moderation with that one. Regardless, Jett and I need a good night's sleep and some rest but Henrietta was adamant against us leaving it at that. Had Jett and I not been so tired, one of us would have called her out on being a hypocrite; she didn't have nearly as many cuts or bruises as me or Jett but a girl like her - a pale and slender five-foot-three with barely an hour of Persona usage under her belt - was not built for combat. Every word was punctuated with a wheezing gasp for air. She shouted (or at least tried to),

"We can't just stop now! There's still time!" Theo, thank God, stepped in just then.

"There are approximately nine minutes left before the end of the Dark Hour," he announced, composed and even under Henrietta's heated stare. Unfazed Theo is unfazed. Henrietta opened her mouth no doubt to object but Theo cut across her like a sword though paper.

"While I admire your drive to save your sister, that is hardly enough time for you to go in and do as you intend." Without missing a beat, he added in a voice two octaves deeper and cold as a frozen dagger, "Unless you think your meager power alone is enough to stave off the inevitable onslaught of nightmares." I swear in that split second, his mouth just twitched up in a smirk.

No one said a word. A weapon clattered to the floor, the sound amplified by the silence. It was a spear. Cowed, a wide-eyed and shivering Henrietta stepped back from her weapon clutching her head, whimpering while her hair curtained her eyes. I wanted to get closer and ask if she was okay but couldn't. I was rooted to the spot while Theo watched on emotionlessly.

He goes from warning Henrietta for her own good to basically _daring_ her to go back in alone? If I didn't know better, and I don't think I do, Theo might actually like watching her get torn apart by Shadows. That shut her up, yeah, but it sent a chill up my and Jett's spines. I need to keep a closer eye on that guy.

"Shit, Theo, that was a little harsh," says Jett from his seat at the table, obviously shaken. I showed my agreement with a nod and narrowed eyes. Theo looked the two of us over and returned his gaze to Henrietta before speaking.

"She is supposed to be intelligent, yes?" A few seconds pass before we realize he wants an answer out of us.

"I am intelligent," Henrietta whispered venomously. Not exactly intimidating when you say it from such a pathetic place on the ground. "The smartest person here!"

"Smart people don't have a death wish," says Theo. "You just got a Persona and have no battle experience." Shit, is he reading my mind? "Recklessly venture in after your sister with nine…" He stopped to check a wristwatch that I swear wasn't there a second ago, "My pardon, seven minutes left in the Dark Hour, then you must be suicidal." Again, he says nothing while we all watch in silence and growing apprehension. I can hazard a guess as to where Theo's going with this but with him, I can never be too sure. Can't be sure with anyone present, really. I hardly know them.

"In that case, there is no point in a slow painful death," he says unflinchingly. His eyes narrow. "It would make more sense for you to impale yourself on your spear or better yet," he sweeps an arm behind him towards me and Jett without looking, "have one of them do it."

Henrietta turned a shade whiter and Jett's jaw fell open. Audibly. Time to step in.

"Theo!" I snapped. "That's too far. I may not like the girl but I didn't ask to bring her into this! She brought herself into this and -" Again, he cuts across someone mid-sentence.

"She _did_ bring herself into this. She took the Evoker, she summoned Mandragora, and she followed you into Rem of her own accord. If she is so intelligent, then she should have known and considered the consequences those actions would bring upon her head and her head alone." In a huff, he irritably loosened his azure tie and marched over to a large, ornately crafted floating silver door glowing with a steady blue aura. Guessing that's the Velvet Room door.

"Reckless children," he seethes although I am the only one to hear it. He flings the door open and storms in without another word, leaving us in a silence so deep, I can hear the lock click as the door closes behind him.

Shuddering a bit, Henrietta stood up silently as a wraith and turned on her heel to leave. She was out of sight before either Jett or me could do anything about it. Not that I think we could have…

"Did Theo just disappear into thin air?" Jett asks me. I look at the Velvet Room door and back to Jett, confused.

"What are you talking about? There's a door right there," I say, pointing at what should be a very conspicuous doorway, what with all the floating and glowing. Jett gives me a look like I'm crazy (justified, seeing as I am) and looks at the spot I'm pointing to.

"No…" he begins slowly. "There's no door there, Logan. Maybe you're seeing things?" Okay, this is just weird. There is a freaking door _right there_. Striding over to it, I place a hand on the door and shoot Jett a deadpan glance. He shrugs, still unable to see it, so I punch the door and he jumps in surprise. Jett apprehensively approaches the door with his hands out in front of him like he's blind and tries touching the airspace my hand rests on.

His hand just went _through_ the door.

"The hell?" I mutter.

"I don't know how you just made that thumping noise but there is seriously no door here," Jett says, voice wavering. He steadies himself backs away.

"Listen, man, I'm gonna go home. I need, like, a fourteen hour nap. Tell Theo I'm sorry or whatever." And with that, he left. I run my hand over the cool metal surface of the door and try and work out exactly what just happened. Jett seriously can't see it. That must mean Henrietta can't either. But Theo can and he can use it like I should be able to. Like I can…

Oh, yeah. I need to talk to Igor today. I'm late but I might as well. I took the Velvet Key out of my pocket and the door swung open before I even unlocked it. My vision was flooded with soft blue light and when it died, I was back in my suit and in the Velvet Room again. Nameless nods his head me and Belladonna waves. I look towards the bar; no Theodore but there's an empty bottle of gin on the table and about three dozen shot glasses around it.

"Someone's been drinking," I commented. "Sorry I'm late," I say without really meaning it.

"Please, excuse Theodore's behavior." Margaret was bowing deeply at me in apology but her voice was as flat as ever. "What happened earlier was -"

"It's no big deal," I assured her. "Theo's got his baggage just like everyone else. If he doesn't want to share, fine by me." Silently, Margaret straightened up and gave me the slightest of nods. I'll consider that a 'thank you' and take my seat.

"You've been making acceptable progress," Igor says as I sit down. He summons three cards onto the table with a flourish of his hand and flips them over with a wave. The Magician, Lovers and Emperor Arcana cards stare up at me.

"My Social Links."

"Indeed." Igor looks up at Margaret and she sets down the Persona Compendium, opening it to a blank page. The cards move themselves into the book and line up in numerical order on one page. Moving pictures of Ethan, Grey, and Jett's faces appear on the opposite them on the next.

"But let us leave that topic for later." Igor closes the book and hands it back to Margaret. "I trust that you have some questions for me tonight?"

"Why are those two involved in this?" I blurt out in irritation. I pull myself back for a second; this is no time to get snappy, Logan. You're ticked about the situation with Jett and Henrietta but that's no reason to blame Igor. He probably has nothing to do with this.

"I mean," I continue carefully, "they shouldn't have to put themselves in danger when this is supposed to be my job. When I first summoned Gawain, they were there and they were scared out of their minds, but they decided to go with me without thinking about it too hard." I stopped and waited for a response. Igor remained silent. Guess that means my turn's not over. I took a deep breath.

"Igor… Did you have anything to do with this?" The old man starts chuckling and summons a tea set out of nowhere before pouring himself a cup and taking a sip. The set pours another cup and floats it over to me and, thinking it rude to refuse, I take it and burn my tongue with the first sip.

"Shit, that's hot!"

"To answer your question -"

"What, no ice cubes?" I lisp, tongue lolling out of my mouth.

"I have no control over who chooses to join you in your mission," Igor finishes, a smirk playing on his mouth. Laugh at my pain, why don't you? "Rather, that is decided by fate."

"Sorry, but I'm not buying it, old man," I retort once my tongue cools off. "I mean, sure, Henrietta wants to save her sister but Theo had it right when he called her a 'reckless child'. She pretty much consigned herself to battle without so much as a second thought. And I don't even know what the story behind Jett's reason is." There was a light clink as Igor set his cup down. Resuming his normal stance, he eyed me critically from over his crazy long nose before speaking.

"It was fated that you would be accompanied in your battle by those two. I cannot tell you the reason why," he said before I could ask, "because that would be overstepping my boundaries. I can tell you, however, that they had the potential and by meeting you, it was realized in the form of their Personas. Their reasons are what drive them to fight. No one strong-armed or forced their hands."

I sat back and digested that for a while. I felt just a little better knowing that I didn't force anyone into risking their lives for my problem, yeah. But that was offset by the fact that those guys were bound by destiny like I was. Why should us kids have to take on a job better suited for adults, and beyond that, who the hell chose us to do this? Looking at Igor, I saw in his face that he wouldn't be able to give me an answer to those questions either. At least not a straight one. He said there are boundaries that he can't overstep so that must be why he talks in riddles instead of just spitting it out.

"I have to figure this shit out on my own, huh?" He and Margaret nodded. Sigh. "Fine. I can deal with that for now, I guess." A wizened smile was offered to me by Igor. I didn't reciprocate but that didn't stop him.

"Now, then. Moving on," he announced theatrically. "It has come to my attention that I have overlooked a rather enduring tradition here in the Velvet Room." My eyebrow raised as Igor's hand hovered over the center of the table and a deck of cards appeared under it in a flash of blue. He handed the deck to me, grinning.

"Please, shuffle the deck," he said.

"Uhm… Why?"

"Whenever we receive a new guest," Margaret explained, "it is customary that Master Igor perform a Tarot reading for them. We find it helps them plan accordingly if they know a rough outline of things to come. We apologize for not reading your future beforehand but there were complications." I eyed the deck and scoffed.

"Tarot cards. Really? C'mon, Igor; I may be involved in a supernatural whatever-this-is but fortune telling is something I just don't buy into."

"You'd be surprised how accurate my readings can be. Each reading is done with the same cards, yet the result is always different. Live itself follows the same principle, does it not?" The elf-eared old man chuckled mysteriously and gestured for me to shuffle.

"Alright, then. What the hell?" I hastily shuffled the deck and handed it back to Igor, who placed it back in the center of the table and snapped his fingers. At his command, six cards removed themselves from the top of the deck and arranged themselves in a circle around the deck.

"Good. Good…Now, let us begin." Igor conjures up the Fool card in his hand and hands it to me.

"We are a bit late in the story but I can still perform an accurate reading. The Fool represents a new beginning. A blank slate. As the Fool himself," he explains, "you embark on a new journey, unaware of what is to come. You have a lot of room to grow and a lot of room to learn." I sit at attention and watch as the card at the bottom right-hand corner of the circle flips itself. There's a picture of a tower being struck by lightning while two people fall from it.

"The Tower in the upright position," Igor says. "This indicates a sudden change in your life, and foretells the coming of an imminent disaster."

"The sudden change being…this," I guess. I pause and a summary of the past week and a half runs at light speed in front of my eyes. "And the disaster being the Apathy Syndrome outbreak."

"Indeed." The next card in the cycle shows itself as the silhouette of a woman with her hand raised to a cowering lion. "Arcana number nine: Strength in the upright position." Igor looks up at me. "You will have new challenges thrust upon you by life. Ones that you must never stop trying to complete and overcome through your strength of will. At this stage, you must gather your courage and your patience, for they will be of great aid to you."

"Whoop-dee-doo, I'm at that stage already," I quip dryly.

"I would say so," Igor laughs. Next card is a lantern with an eye positioned under it.

"Hermit in the upright position. Curious; they're all in the upright position… Nevertheless, the Hermit represents introspection and the age old question: 'why?'. It seems as if will have to consider your own emotions and motivations as you continue your journey."

I waited attentively for the next card in the circle to reveal itself but Igor sent them away with a nod of his oddly shaped head. "We'll save the rest for later, hmm? I don't want to spoil the story for you."

I sank back into my chair with folded arms and a frown on my face. This cryptic stuff again? "Fine, you're the boss here," I conceded. "I have another question, though."

"Ask away."

"This Apathy Syndrome thing. Is it what's making Aria go nuts in that coma of hers? And if it is, does that apply for all of the victims or no?" This must be another 'spoiler', I thought, since Igor locked eyes with Margaret in silent conference before he gave me my answer.

"Yes and no. Yes, Apathy Syndrome is what is causing Aria to behave as you have seen but, no, not all Apathy Syndrome victims become like this when afflicted. To understand the effects of this Apathy Syndrome, you must first know what happened during the last outbreak."

I leaned in, my eyes half-lidded and expectant. "Well? What happened the last time?" Igor sipped his tea calmly and let out a sigh through his nose.

"It was, in a word, pandemic," he said, uncharacteristically grave. "The Shadows were much more active than we here in the Velvet Room have seen in a great many years."

"How many years?" I asked though he continued right through my interruption. Margaret glared.

"With the arrival of the Dark Hour, the Shadows were given the ability to extend the reaches of their ghastly hunt into the realm of reality. The sheer number of people afflicted…" Igor shook his head and his wispy gray hair made a sound like fabric being rubbed together.

"Apathy Syndrome is caused when a Shadow attacks a human and begins to devour their mind. The prey loses all will to live or do anything at all, really, and will eventually die unless the attacking Shadow is killed or a bigger, more powerful one is destroyed in its place. This type of Apathy Syndrome, however…" The owner of the Velvet Room trailed off as a truly grim look crossed his pale features. His brow knotted and I saw his jaw clench in frustration. Man, Igor takes this seriously. Guess he ought to.

"That is regular Apathy Syndrome, and it's still just as much a threat to the world as this new strain. This new, less common strain of Apathy Syndrome is, of course, the work of a new breed of Shadow." He spoke slowly and clearly. I got the feeling I should be paying close attention. "A breed that lives on a strict diet of negative emotion."

"Like anger and fear," I said.

"Exactly. Now, these Shadows are formless until they've had a taste of negative emotion, whereas normal Shadows have a coherent body and presence. The feeding process puts the prey into a coma while the Shadow feeds and creates its new body, a body much stronger than that of an ordinary Shadow at its power level. The odd thing is that once it has eaten all it can, leaving the victim in a vegetative state, the Shadow becomes overpowered by the feelings it ate and becomes an manifestation of those feelings. An extension of its victim's psyche." Igor let out a shuddering sigh and sipped more tea to calm himself. I was silent as I took in everything he had said and worked it out into something I could easily understand.

"So… The Shadow is basically a parasite that eats its host's negative emotions," I muttered. "And once it's had its fill, it becomes a copy of its host, but a copy that expresses only the emotions it ate?" I knew immediately that that conclusion was wrong. "No, you said it becomes a part of the victim's psyche, so that can't be it… But damn…"

Save for Nameless and Belladonna's music, there was a silence in the Velvet Room for a few minutes. So Shadows are basically parasites that attach to humans. Like tapeworms, if tapeworms were literally made from the stuff of nightmares. So if Shadows are the tapeworm, I'm…whatever medicine Mom gave Riri when she had one in ninth grade. I finished my now lukewarm tea in one gulp while Igor poured himself another and Margaret sat still as a statue. That girl gives me the creeps….

Focus, Logan. What are you gonna do with this information?

"Everyone's got at least a little negativity in them, right?" I asked.

"Indeed they do," was Igor's solemn answer.

"So that makes everyone a target for these things," I concluded softly. "Everyone…" Last time I checked, my family fell under the banner of 'everyone'. This is just a guess, but Coco and Mom might escape the Shadows' hunger since they're so damn nice. At least for a little while. But Riri's another story with that temper of hers. If my big sister got Apathy Syndrome, then I don't know what I'd…

Oh, shit.

Now I understand why Henrietta's been acting so unlike herself. Aria must be to her what Riri is to me, and if Riri ended up like Aria, I _know_ I'd be flipping out. That must be why Henrietta took my Evoker and why she fought like she did tonight without knowing exactly what she's up against. …I feel like this should have been obvious to me from the start, and I really feel like a dumbass since I _know_ I've had this exact same thought before! I rose up out of my seat silently - determinedly - and turned on my heel towards the door.

"Where are you going?" asked a clearly confused Igor. "I thought you had more questions." I stopped just short of the doorknob and felt my resolution and my chest flame flare as a plan took form in my head. Responding to my feelings, Gawain appeared with his armored fists clenched tightly and, as one, we stared over our shoulders at the little man in the cushy blue chair.

"I'm gonna go make a battle plan," we said. "And then I'm gonna kill some Shadows." I flung open the door and slammed it behind me on my way into the light.

* * *

September 18th, 2020

MORNING

* * *

"_Good morning, students of St. Yung!"_

Dear lord in Heaven, WHY is Mr. Vecky always so damn cheerful at seven in the morning? I'm trying to concentrate!

"_It's that time of year again: Club Week! For one week only, all the school clubs will be holding registrations! Old members, remember to reserve yourself a spot and new members, start thinking about which clubs you want to join before they're full to capacity! First on the list are the sports teams and associations! Hurry, hurry, hurry!"_

I swear, I'll wring his neck… The clubs are always taking new members, anyway; it's not just this one week. Stupiid sunnova… Whatever, I've got more important things to worry about.

I turn my burning gaze away from the PA system and back at my notebook. It's a brand new one but I'm already on the tenth page or so. The other nine have plans on them that have been scribbled all over because they didn't seem viable enough to consider. Judging from our last few battles, I know that just rushing the Shadows headlong gets us hurt easier and takes a up ton of time, which is time that we don't have to spare. We have one hour. We need to be fast and efficient and attacking the Shadows in a disorderly line with no plan of action is the quickest way to get hurt and waste time.

I looked over my new blank page for a moment, trying to block out the buzz of talk in the lobby, before putting pen to paper. Alone, a Shadow can't concentrate on all three of us at once. In a group, that's a totally different story since they have more members to fight. So we just need to split the Shadows' attention and pick them off. And the best way to do that would be…

I drew four small S's in the middle of the page and then put an L, H, and J in a line in front of them. I used lines to represent the attacks of the Shadows and had them hit the letters representing the three of us. No go. So how do I do this? New page…

The first bell rang and left me no time to keep thinking about the subject. Have to get up to first hour Math before Hawkins has my head. The whole way up to the third floor Math and Science wing, I heard people talking nonstop about the kinds of clubs they planned on joining this year. Maybe I should pay some attention. There are people in clubs and more people equals a higher chance to make a new Social Link or even advance an existing one.

"So what clubs are you thinking about this year?" I hear a blonde girl say to her friend as I walk into the classroom. "Definitely going back into orchestra. I'm getting too rusty."

Her brunette friend puts a hand to her chin as she considers her options. "Well, I've been meaning to learn how to cook, so maybe Culinary Club. That and the girl's soccer team and maybe the anime club."

"Sounds like a lot of fun," says the blonde, "but won't it eat up time?" The brunette shakes her head.

"Nah! I can balance it. You can't though." And the two share a laugh. Then it abruptly stops and they give me poisonous glares when they notice I've been looking at them. I've been looking at them?

"_**Indeed."**_

Thanks for the heads up, Gawain.

I take my seat and dig around in my bag for my math notebook so I can finish those problems I wrote down last night. In retrospect, I should have done them last night but I had the battle plan to work out. When I put in the decimal on my clearly wrong answer, I hear another interesting bit of information.

"Yo, Jamie, you joinin' back up in Swordsmanship this year?" Swordsmanship? Is that a club? Weird club, but then again, St. Yung's is a rich kid school. The two kids talking are Jamie Anderson and Wesley Marx, two really strong kids who I know are on the basketball team.

"Probably not," Jamie answers, his voice a hell of a lot deeper than Marx's. "Basketball's supposed to be brutal this year with our new coach." Anderson made a face. "That and Thomas is joinin' up again." Thomas my Emperor Link? This just got interesting. I should probably elbow my way into this convo.

"You mean Grey Thomas?" I ask. Surprisingly, the two don't give me a weird look and answer me.

"Yeah, him. He's a junior this year; the tall kid with messy hair, glasses, and the modded jacket with the hood. You know him?" asks Anderson.

"Kinda. I'm in the same grade as him and he's in my Bio and History classes." Anderson nods and Jamie makes a tutting noise.

"You poor bastard," Jamie groans. "You gotta deal with him more 'n us seniors do. Opinionated pain in the ass."

"Opinionated and cocky," Wesley supplements with a sour tone. He explains further when he sees the puzzled expression I give. "Thomas is vice captain of the Swordsmanship Association this year. He's crazy good but he lets that go to his head sometimes and whenever something's wrong in his eyes, he just has to point it out. Fancies himself some kind of bully hunter."

"Bully hunter?"

Anderson looks as confused as I am now. "Yeah, you don't know?" I shrug and he elaborates. "When you were in ninth grade, he took down Lars Sawyer, a tenth grader at the time, after Sawyer started creeping on his girlfriend. Impressive cuz Sawyer's a freakin' behemoth."

"Kicking Sawyer's ass was justifiable for sure," Wesley says quickly. "Any of us woulda done the same." Again, I shrug but they either don't notice or choose to ignore it.

"But then he took it too far and started challenging guys like Sawyer every time he ran across them. Not like outright challenging them to fights. More like just telling them to quit it and when they didn't quit it, _they_ started with _him, _though it kind of is his fault for sticking his nose in where it doesn't belong."

I tilted my head in thought. That's weird; I would think what Grey's doing would be a good thing, wouldn't it? I voiced that to the seniors and they both shook their heads. "Not in the least!" says Jamie. "After they either kicked Thomas' ass or got theirs kicked, their pride would be wounded so they would just double up on their efforts."

"Oh, that does sound like a problem…" Maybe Grey's to blame for why I got beat up so much last year. I rub my arm subconsciously at the memory of a particularly bad one. Three stitches for me, none for the other guy. It's why Dad made me take kickboxing classes but I stopped halfway through the year. Maybe I should retake those…

"But he hasn't done much this year," Wesley continues after that bit of silence. "And if you're thinking about joining Swordsmanship, it'd be a good idea. Just steer clear of Thomas." I ask them what the association does and they both light up.

"It's awesome; we have a whole bunch of kids who practice different styles in one room and we practice against one another. We all have at least one real sword either made by this old Japanese guy in the Bazaar or that we already had so it's a little like a sword museum, too," explains Jamie.

"But don't think we just swing swords all day," Wesley follows up. "We each choose a long or short- term goal, think of it as an enemy, and use that to…" He trails off. "Well, come by after school today and we'll show you firsthand. We meet in the auxiliary Gym every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday."

The bell rings before I can ask them anymore, so I stow that information away for later, especially all that stuff about Grey. It's a secondhand account, but I think I just got a better handle on his personality since he's so damn quiet. I've tried to talk to him a few times in History but he always has his hood up and is gone the second the bell rings. Can't even find him in Bio class… So this is a good opportunity.

* * *

We get our tests back in Psych today. Moment of truth… I try not to look too nervous (and succeed) when Ms. Fushimi hands back my test. Probably, like, a 75 or something. That seems about average for me and -

93? I got an A- on a test? Oh, fuck yeah! Studying actually paid off! …Why aren't I showing more emotion on the outside? Fuck it, I don't care. NINETY-THREE, ASSHOLES!

Looking around, I see that I didn't get the highest grade in class but it was one of the highest. Jett comes over to me and picks up my test to compare to his and frowns deeply.

"Shit, dude, you beat me by twenty points!" he groans. Then he smirks a bit and says, "But, dang, I didn't know you were smart." One of Jett's fangirls hops out of her desk and scurries over to us.

"Jett, you know this guy?" she asks? Oh, God, no, it's her. The one with the voice. Cringe!

"Kinda-sorta, but keep it on the down-low, babe." Gee, thanks, Jett. Good to know your reputation is still threatened by me. Fangirl looks me up and down and by some miracle doesn't turn her nose up in disgust.

"Well, you're not half-bad looking," she mutters. Eyebrow raise. Excuse me? She looks at my test and then smiles. "Ooh, but you're doing pretty good in this class! Alright, then, you can hang out with Jett. Maybe you can tutor him once in a while and get his grades up," she says to which Jett chuckles feebly.

"Uhm, sure, I guess," I say unsurely. Fangirl smiles wider and skips off. She freaking _skips_ off.

"Dude, trust me on this one: you just got yourself a little bit of street cred. Maria's a gossip, yeah, but it can be used for good, too," Jett whispers to me. I smirk, and then,

"Wait, I thought her name was Emily."

Jett shrugs. "Dude, you can't expect me to keep track of _all_ my hoes. Pimpin' ain't easy." I break down, laughing like a psychopath. Okay, that's definitely it. I'm keeping this kid around!

* * *

AFTER SCHOOL

* * *

Between advancing the Emperor Link and planning to save Aria, there was one clear winner in terms of importance. Besides, I can always join tomorrow or the day after if I'm too tired. Theo and I were early in the cul-de-sac way before Dark Hour even started, so we sat down at his set-up working out a battle plan. He told me I didn't even need to think of one - I coulda just asked him - but I had been slowly working towards the plan used by the teams of the Wild Cards before me. He said all we needed to do was surround the Shadows and then pick a target to blast into oblivion so that they couldn't focus on all of us. That plan is so simple, I feel like an idiot for not considering it earlier. Stupid Logan.

By the time Jett and Henrietta arrived two minutes later, I was charged up and more than ready to go. Henrietta was just dead-set on saving her sister tonight and her expression told me failure was not an option.

"Failure is not an option," she growled at me. Redundant comment is redundant. No need to tell me, woman. Before we started the operation, I took a few minutes to explain to Jett and Henrietta the commands I'd thought up while making battle plans: Act Freely, Heal and/or Support, Assign Target, and Knock Down. They were to adhere strictly to those commands unless told otherwise or someone's life was in danger and the command got in the way of saving someone's life. Nobody's dying in there; not while I'm around. Jett picked them up rather easily and Henrietta's only complaint was a low grunt of understanding. Good. Now to wait for Dark hour and then it's into the elevator and down to floor six of the Tangled Bloom.

* * *

DARK HOUR

Tangled Bloom Dreamscape

* * *

Still as dead as ever in here and it's still stormy. Floors six was empty and seven is equally devoid of Shadows, something Theo reminded us was almost never a good sign. Our guards doubled up after hearing that and we proceeded much slower than normal.

_~Shadow coming up on the next turn~_ Theo alerts us. True enough, there was a huge Shadow about ten yards away moving slug-like across the ground by dragging itself with its arms. It couldn't see us, but I could see it had no mask. Weird.

"Theo, what's up with this one?" Jett asks, no doubt voicing my suspicion.

_~I was wondering when they'd start to do this~_ the blonde bartender mutters. _~Shadows usually travel in 'packages', you could say, to conserve and share energy. They break apart into their individual selves when hit, or when they hit an enemy. Try to hit them first so they'll be disoriented and you get the privilege of first strike, lest they do the same to you~_

"Got it," I grunt, turning to Henrietta. "You do the honors."

"M-Me?" She looks from the Shadow mass to me and back again. "Aren't you more qualified than I am?"

"Look," I say, sighing in annoyance, "just rush it, hit it, and make sure you end up on the other side of it. Jett and I will be flanking you so you don't get squashed." I pause as she wrings the staff of he spear nervously and add, "You wanted to help your sister, so now's not the time to tell me failure isn't an option and then cop out of fighting. Cowgirl up."

"Heheheh… Cowgirl…" Goddamn it, Jett, stop diminishing the drama and gravity of the things I say! I glare at him from over my shoulder and to my surprise, Henrietta joins in. Jett stuffs his own fist into his mouth to stifle his giggling and shrugs as if to say 'Well, you walked right into that one'.

"I admit that I did but that is no reason, Mitchell!" I yell to Henrietta's puzzlement and Jett's laughter. "Jett, shut up. Henrietta, move!"

Jett and I took positions on either side of her and readied ourselves. The sound of air moving in and out of her lungs was creepily audible over the pitter-patter of rain and the crash of thunder.

"Now or never," she breathed. She broke out in a headlong run, intent on closing the gap between us and our enemy. The Shadow mass didn't have a clue we were there until Henrietta was almost right up next to it. The Shadow mass did an about face with surprising speed and lashed out at us with its long bony arms and Jett and I leapt to the side. Henrietta, in a truly awesome move, stuck her spear into the Shadow mass and used her weapon to pole vault over it - hand standing in mid-arc - and landed behind it in a crouch.

"Nice!" shouted Jett.

"Keep on your guard!" I reminded them. I made a quick check to see that, yes, we were in a triangle surrounding our enemy. "No telling what's coming next!" The Shadow mass bubbled and warped and split off into four pieces, two of which morphed into tittering Cupids while another became a Muttering Tiara. The largest of the pieces morphed into a Shadow I haven't seen in a while: a Wendigo. Fair enough.

"Pick a target and stay on it!" Jett didn't have to pick his target; the Tiara rushed him headlong and headbutted him at full speed. Dazed, he knocked it back and sliced off a tendril of hair before it could pierce his arm. Henrietta was left deflecting the Cupids' arrows which meant I was left with the Wendigo.

The beast wildly swung its thick arms at me but its strikes were so unfocused, I was easily able to dodge. Then I leapt over a particularly fierce attack and onto the Wendigo's hand and kicked it in the chest, away from me and onto its back. Meanwhile, Jett summoned Eros to launch his flail into the Tiara but the Persona missed and buried his morning star in the muddy ground. Jett used the opportunity to get in close and take a swipe at the Shadow's mask. He managed to get in a glancing blow with his left-hand chakram and lopped off more hair when he spun on the spot and lashed out with his right-hand weapon. The Shadow retaliated, sending forth rakes made of hair to slash at Jett's chest. He raised his arms to block and got his sleeves and forearms torn up but the damage could have been worse. He was bleeding but at least he wasn't crippled.

The Muttering Tiara continued its assault relentlessly and made Jett hop backwards into Henrietta's battle. The girl exploited the Cupids' ice weakness to her advantage and had just stabbed one of them through the mask when the Wendigo was back on me with renewed anger. Focus, Logan. The others will be fine!

There was a loud impact noise when I raised my left arm to block a vicious punch that made my arm go numb and pushed my feet into the mud. Determined not to back down, I leaned right and let the Wendigo's force send it stumbling forward where I caught it in the gut and then the face with hooks as strong as I could muster. With a deafening bellow, the Wendigo threw its arm out and slammed me into a wall of thorns and laid into me with an icy punch generated by a Bufu spell.

Don't cry out… Don't show weakness… Fight!

I kicked out with both feet and forced the Wendigo away and reached for my Evoker while it was stunned, putting it to my temple and calling Gawain to the forefront of my mind. The flame above my chest blazed with energy and I called out for my Persona.

"Gawain!"

BANG!

There was a gust of wind from behind that nearly sent me into the black mud as the black knight sped forward, hand transfiguring into his sword. Gawain's shield and the Wendigo's meaty fist met with a loud clash and I felt a phantom strike hit my arm. Damage to my Persona translates over to me. Gotta remember that.

"Gawain, do not give in!" I ordered. "Agi!" BANG! My Persona's free hand bursts into flame that he condenses into a fireball and shoves right into the Wendigo's mask. The monster roars out in pain, clutching its face, as Gawain fades and I charge, fist raised. I make the short run in record time, jump, and drive my gauntlet as hard as I can into the monster's still-burning face. The hit floors the Wendigo and cracks its mask. Still not enough? Fine!

STOMP! and the mask shatters while its wearer melts into a black puddle.

"Mandragora!" I hear Henrietta shriek to my right. The morbid pixie rises and draws a magic circle into the air that lights up in purple fire and explodes seconds later. The Cupid is still alive after the spell and shoots an arrow in retaliation that its opponent dodges and counters by throwing her spear. The spear runs the Cupid through, killing it, while Jett finally offs the Tiara with a shot of Garu and a morning star to the…face? Body? Whatever, it's dead.

"Suck it, bitch!" His breathing slightly heavy, Jett spat on the ground where his opponent had dissolved into nothing and put his Evoker back in his belt. A quick look at Henrietta told me she was breathing heavy, too. Not a good sign.

"That was good," I said. "We avoided serious injury but we still manage to tire ourselves out." I use 'we' so as not to seem like I'm criticizing them. It works on Jett, not so much on the girl.

"Let's try and make the triangle a little smaller so we can jump into someone else's fight when they call for help or get tired," Jett suggests. I nod silently; it sounds like a good idea so long a we don't create a total brawl in the process.

"All right. Let's go."

Our next two fights went smoother than the first one. We were able to put Jett's suggestion into action and it ended up saving us a lot more energy and time. I - that is, Pixie - had jumped into Henrietta's fight against a Brute by zapping the shit out of it with a Zio spell and Jett saved my hide against a Grave Beetle (hate those things) by using Garu to send it into the insanely sturdy thorn hedges. Good thing we know the thing's weakness. Morale is up high now and that's a good thing for everyone. If we go into this thinking we can win, the chances of winning skyrocket. Hell, even Henrietta's starting to look confident about this.

SHUFFLE TIME!

Oh, goody, I get a prize. Four cards this time: two Swords, a green sprig of something that Theo told me is the Wand - a card that increases the experience we gain- , and a Persona card. The Persona in question is what looks like a bright red comma with an eternally angry face. The cards show their backs to me and start the shuffle. This should be easy as pie. …Wait, no, did they just stack on top of each other and then shuffle? Crap! Where'd the Wand go? I wanted that one? Shit, looks like I just have to pick a card. I pick the middle right card and it flips over to reveal the new Persona. I groan. Great, another crazy freeloader in my head.

Back in reality, the card shatters and its fragments form my new Persona. Henrietta watches the process with intrigue while Jett, who's seen it twice already, glares daggers at me. I bet he thinks it's gonna be another girl. I _wish_ it were another girl. The red comma thing finishes materializing and says in a booming voice:

"_**I am Ara Mitama of the Arcana Chariot! Are you my summoner?"**_

"Yes!" I yell. "Now stop yelling!"

"_**Summoner, I was born of thee and I shall walk by thine side. State your name!"**_

"Logan Martin!"

"_**Logan Martin, I am in your service!"**_ Ara Mitama disappears, thank God, and leaves us to clean out our ears.

"Why is he so loud?" Jett groans.

"It's a facet of my personality," I say. "Didn't know I was so obnoxious."

"I could have guessed," the girl harps.

"Shut the fuck up and let's get this done," I deadpan.

"_**Onward!" **_screams Ara Mitama.

Fuck, he's in my head now! What did I do to deserve this?

Floor Ten. We've made some serious progress tonight but we've only fought three groups of Shadows. That means less power. I hope I know what I'm doing. The elevator dings and the doors slide open to reveal a wide open area encircled by thicker, taller thorn hedges. There's a black marble fountain in the exact center of the enclosure spouting what I hope is just red water. The rusty smell in the air that tells me it's blood. Yay.

the raining really starts getting worse. It's a complete and total downpour in here and still, none of us get wet. Thunderclaps reign as the loudest sound and the blindingly bright lightning is now strong enough to bridge the gap between the coal-black skies and the muddy ground. A furious gale forms from out of nowhere while a few bolts strike the withered hedges, blackening them and setting them on fire here and there. Something is going on with Aria's emotional state and it is not good. Jett looks around curiously and cups a hand to his ear in search of something we can't hear over the thunder. "What are you doing?" I ask him.

"I think…" he begins, unsure of himself. "I think I hear someone…crying?"

And he was right. All at once, the thunderclaps stop despite the lightning still going and we hear not crying, but out-and-out sobbing.

"Aria!" Henrietta shouts. "Aria, please, what's wrong? Tell me!" The sobbing stops abruptly. There's some sniffling, and then,

"_You want to know what's wrong?"_ Aria says barely above a whisper. _"You want to know what's wrong? … YOU DON'T EVEN CARE WHAT'S WRONG!"_

Shit, that's loud!

"_If I came to you and told you that Dad was in the hospital, I bet you wouldn't even care. You wouldn't care if I were in the ICU while Mom was trying her damnedest to bring me back to health." _If she only knew how ironic that was.

"That's not true, Aria," Henrietta stutters feebly. "You _are_ in the hospital; I've been visiting you and -" Aria cuts across her younger sister with a wail to rival a banshee's.

"_LIAR!" _she screeches. I think Henrietta's honestly about to cry. If calling her a liar wasn't bad enough, Aria started up again and, shit, does she sound mad.

_"'Sister, sister! Come here, I have something to show you!'." _she says, imitating a little girl. She scoffed, playing the bitchiness in that for all it was worth, and let out an empty laugh.

_"Those were the days,"_ she sighed wistfully. _"Now, it's just, 'Leave me alone, Aria.' or 'I'm studying, Aria.' or 'No, I don't need your help. I don't need anyone's help.'." _I stole a glance at Henrietta to see her mouthing along with everything Aria said. Safe to assume Henrietta was the one that said all that. Her eyes tell me she doesn't want to believe it even though it's all true.

_"What the FUCK?" _Oh, damn. _"Who the hell are you and what have you done with my little sister? Why don't you smile anymore, Rietta? Why?"_

I can see Henrietta's knees weakening out of the corner of my eye. She drops her spear in either fear, shock, or despair, and Jett rushes to her side. I can barely hear him muttering that everything is going to be alright. Yeah, Jett. Keep telling her that while her sister raves on. Aria's disembodied voice gets higher and angrier and louder as she keeps on.

_"Did something happen? Did someone hurt you? Is that it? No...? THEN WHY WON'T YOU TELL ME? We're sisters, for Heaven's sake! Do you have any clue what Mom and Dad are going through right now because of you?" _I seriously don't know if Henrietta can take this or - nope, she's just burst out sobbing. Perfect... Even I feel a little bad but I doubt my face shows it. I just stand here.

_"They think you're on DRUGS, Henrietta! DRUGS! Or that someone did something unspeakable to you! I tell them every day that nothing is wrong and that you'd never abuse drugs or turn to drinking or fool around with any stupid boys but they're parents and they worry and I worry!" _She stops to catch her breath.

_"...But no. You don't tell us anything. Mom and Dad have just given up on you but I haven't. I'm seriously starting to wonder if it's worth it at all," _she growls scathingly. I hear Henrietta gasp behind me, her sobbing done for the moment. That got her attention. _"You act like you hate us, Rietta. ...No, not hate. You act like you don't even care. But we do. The fact that you don't respond..." _I think I know what's coming. _"It makes us hate you."_

There are absolutely no words to describe the hurt and pain and defeat in Aria's voice. Trying to would be pointless. Henrietta's starts sobbing as badly as Aria was earlier with an added wail now and then and there's nothing Jett and me can do to help her except kill the Shadow holding her sister hostage. I promised.

I open my mouth to tell them that we need to keep moving but I stop before I can speak. Aria's standing in front of the fountain with a little girl at her side and both are dressed in white sundresses. Henrietta stops her crying and shouts,

"That's me!" while pointing at the younger girl. This is another memory then.

"_I have no sister," _Aria says in a monotone. _"She's dead now. The girl over there," _she points dead ahead at her younger sister, _"isn't the Rietta I know. The one next to me is." _Tears stream down her face and she wails as loud as she possibly can, which is pretty loud since it's overtaking the sound of thunder. A powerful wind blows outward from the fountain and pushes the three of us back a few feet. The ground at Aria's feet starts bubbling and a black ichor rises out of it and crawls up her slender legs. The ichor completely overtakes her, transforming her body into a silhouette with glowing red circles for eyes and no mouth to speak of.

…Correction, she has a mouth. A mouth with more teeth in it than a shark's and they're all a dull, filthy brown. Shadow Aria flashes us a grin before turning to the Ghost of Rietta Past and opening her maw. Oh, fuck, don't -

There's a disgusting slurping and chomping noise as Shadow Aria _eats_ the apparition of her little sister and chews on her bones. The bones crack with a sound like giant pencils snapping and blood stains her front and her teeth and it flies into the air with each chew. Henrietta buries her face in Jett's chest and Jett winces and gags, averting his eyes from the scene while I watch with a mixture of horror and rapt attention as Shadow Aria's form starts to twist and warp and grow.

She stands as tall as our Personas now, her red eyes alight with malice and hatred within the eyeholes of a red-orange half-circle mask with big and small spikes coming out of the top. Shadow Aria's matted, ugly dull gray hair falls to her ankles and in front of her eyes. She wears a torn bloodstained sundress, ivy snaking all over it. Spiraling down her now sheer white arms are thorny ropes not unlike Mandragora's and her face, white as her arms, is decorated with two streaks of black starting at her eyes and running down her cheeks. Finally, atop her head is a crown made of thorns the center of which a black rose sprouts.

_~The Shadow's Arcana is… The Sun? But that's breaking every rule and…~ _Theo trails off, obviously perplexed. _~No matter. I shall report this to Master Igor after the battle. Just destroy it!~_

"Just scan it and give me a weakness, Theodore!" I bark dropping into a fighting stance. Jett rushes to my side with Henrietta in tow and they do the same, though Henrietta is shaky.

"_The love…is gone," _Shadow Aria rasps, her voice distorted. _"You took it, Henrietta. I'll bring it back to our family. I'll get rid of that which steals the love. I'll get rid… OF YOU!"_

Shadow Aria's hand clumsily shoots forward and gouges the ground in its attempt to grab its host's sister. I grab Henrietta and jump over the hand as a million and one plans race through my head.

"Right," I grunt. "Jett! Attack it! You can dodge fast if it goes for you; I'll buff you with a Tarukaja!"

"What about Rietta?"

"I'm giving her new orders! Just go!" Jett gives the slightest of nods and takes hold of his Evoker. His face set, he puts it to his temple and pulls the trigger and Eros rises out of the blue mist. My turn.

"Gawain! Tarukaja!" I bark over the gunshot. Gawain wastes no time in readying the boosting spell and aiming his arm at Jett. A ray of orange light washes over Jett and his speed increases at least threefold. He jumps over a whip strike by Shadow Aria and slashes at her stomach, tearing open its dress and rending its skin. He orders Eros to use Bash and the angel's mace flies into the fresh wound, aggravating it and the Shadow. I cast Tarukaja on myself while Shadow Aria's staggered and shake Henrietta back into reality.

"Wake up!" She starts as if waking up from a daydream and tears form when she sees her sister's nightmarish copy attacking a fleeing Jett.

"Th-that's…" she starts.

"No, it's not!" I say forcefully. I remember what Igor told me about the new Apathy Syndrome and follow up. "That thing is _not_ your big sister. It's a Shadow feeding off of and amping up her negativity; that's all it is! She doesn't hate you, Henrietta." Lightning flashes overhead and she winces.

"But I've caused that negativity…" she says so I can barely hear her. Goddamn, we don't have time for this.

"Will you listen to yourself?" Her eyes widen and she jumps in my grip. "Your sister's mind is being eaten by that parasite and you're sitting here feeling sorry."

"I… I…" She flounders for a response but I am not letting her get a self-deprecating word in edgewise.

"I know for _DAMN_ sure," I seethe, "that if that were one of my sisters, I'd be fighting like hell to kill whatever it is that's doing that to her. You've got your chance, Mackenzie!" Her eyes flit between my face and the Shadow as it bats Jett away and into the thorny walls like a fly.

"Shit…" I growl when I hear Jett's scream of pain. I turn back to Henrietta and scream, "Stop moping around and fight!" She gets up before I finish talking and sprints over to the battle. I take a second to call my Personas together and single out Ara Mitama.

You! What can you do!

"_**My liege! Bash, Agi! Strike attack, fire spell!"**_

Useless; I've already got Gawain who can do that! Oh, well, just gonna have to wing it!

"Get back in formation!" I holler. "Move it before she hits us! Jett, Heal and Support, Rietta, with me!" Jett pries himself out of the thorny wall and rolls out of the way of a massive Agi fireball thrown by Shadow Aria. Henrietta went unnoticed and used that to take her place in the triangle while I dashed over and summoned Angel to me.

Angel, what level are you?

"_**Five as of our last battle."**_

Any new skills?

"_**Sukukaja."**_

"Let's try it out, then. Angel! Sukukaja!" A bright green light flooded my vision as Angel cast her spell and I suddenly felt lighter on my feet. Aria screeched as a circle of light appeared under my feet and sheaves of paper attached themselves to my body. Another blinding light rose up out of the circle but other than that, I was fine.

_~That was a Hama spell; Angel can do the same and is resistant to its effect. It's an instant kill one out of four times!~_

One out of four? Son of a bitch. Well at least I'm still alive. There was a gunshot as Jett summoned Eros to cast Dia on his wounds, and another as Henrietta had Mandragora encase Shadow Aria's arm in ice. The Shadow gives an unearthly screech before easily melting through it and made the ground around her sister explode in fire and smoke.

_~Bad; Henrietta is weak to fire elemental spells! Jett, heal her!~_

"Dia!" BANG!

I didn't stick around to watch, I jumped up to Shadow Aria's knee height and kicked with all my might. The blow injured her for sure but it wasn't enough to floor her. I need something stronger. Something bigger. Gawain, come to me!

BANG!

Gawain rises with a ghostly battle cry holding his sword-hand across his chest. He swings it and Shadow Aria parries it with the back of her hand and knocks Gawain back. The hit transfers over to me and I feel like the school's star linebacker just barreled into me. Gotta hold my ground! I pull the trigger again and order another Cleave. This one connects, cutting a path across my enemy's back and making her lash out in anger. Jett narrowly dodges the enraged strike and looks to me for direction before he has to leap out of the way of a kick.

Think fast, Logan. This thing is weak to Ice attacks, I think, and Henrietta's the only one with access to those. Apart from that, everything else hits it normally.

"Agi!" I shout as Shadow Aria is engulfed in Gawain's hellfire. She shrugs it off like its nothing and hits him with one of her own, though it barely hurts me. We're both resistant to fire. Crap.

"_Ring around the rosie, a pocket full of posies." _She's singing? _"Ashes, ashes…" _I don't like that; why is there fire building up on her arms? _"We all fall… DOWN!" _She throws her arms out to her sides and a ring of fire radiates outward from her and catches all of us. We're all thrown away from each other and into the hedges, the wind getting knocked out of us. I have minor burns across my stomach and arms so I can only guess how the others are doing.

Shadow Aria sweeps its hosts sister up in its hand and stomps over to me, eyes narrowed as I try my hardest to get back up. It raises a whip and brings it crashing down with intent to kill and I only just summon Gawain in time for him to block. My arms sting with each successive blow to my Persona's shields.

WHAM! WHAM!

Crap. Damn it! This thing is way too strong! I've led us into a deathtrap! I need to think of something!

WHAM! WHAM!

I have to get up, but I can't! I need something; anything!

WHAM! WHA-

CRACK!

What just happened? Gawain and I stand back up to see Eros, arm outstretched and palming his morning star, standing over Jett after just nailing Shadow Aria across the face with a Bash. Jett's Persona catches Henrietta out of the air and casts Dia on her, healing what must be some really bad burns. I order Pixie to do the same. The girl then springs back up with spirit blazing in her eyes and cries,

"BUFU!" and Mandragora obeys by launching multiple frozen blasts at Shadow Aria, each one as powerful as the last. Despite that, Shadow Aria gets back on its feet. At least it looks a little worse for wear.

"What do we do?" breathes Jett as the three of us regroup.

"_That hurt, sister!" _it spits acidly. _"You should never raise a hand to me! Ever! You've been a bad girl!"_

"It's at half strength," I guess, feeling the boost from Tarukaja fading. "All we need to do is knock it down again and go in for an All-Out Attack."

"Hope you're right," says Henrietta.

"Yeah, so do I," I agree. "Come on, surround it!" Can't use any Personas here but Gawain and maybe Pixie. Speaking of which…

I have Pixie cast a Rakunda, which lowers the target's ability to take a hit, and call Gawain back to the front. Weaving in and out of Agi-generated landmines, Jett uses the last of his Sukukaja boost to sprint through Shadow Aria's legs and slash its hand when she reaches for him. I summon Gawain to rush it in hopes of a knockdown but no such luck. He manages to stumble it, though, and make it leave itself open to a Bufu in its back wound. Rakunda's doing its job.

Shadow Aria falls to its knees. Henrietta rushes over to one of its hands and stabs her spear straight through it. The nightmare clutches its wrist and screams. It fixes its gaze on Henrietta and wills the ground around the girl to burst into flame and explode. Fortunately, Shadow Aria's focus was off and the spell was weaker than normal and only knocked its target down. Jett rushes over to help Henrietta while Shadow Aria stood itself back up and wrenched the spear out of its hand before shrieking at Henrietta and slamming Jett with an Agi and tripping him up. Jett rolls into Henrietta and their bodies tangle together while Shadow Aria stands triumphant, readying another Ring Around the Rosie. Not gonna happen!

Before it launched the attack, I used my dwindling Sukukaja boost to rush in front of the other two and take the brunt of Shadow Aria's demonic lullaby. I cross my arms in front of me to absorb the blow and brace myself for impact. The torrent of fire threatens to break my guard and consume me in fire but I hold firm and push back. I can't stop the fire, I realize. I can only take most of this hit and make sure the other two aren't hit too bad. Seeing that its attack isn't enough, Shadow Aria boosts Ring Around the Rosie with a stream of Agi that sends the heat up to insanely high levels. I'm starting to lose my focus here…

No! I can't lose now! But none of the Personas I have here can extinguish my opponent's flames! I need a new Persona!

"I will not lose!" I roar.

I bring my arms down as the flame above my chest blazes with new life and the flames from Shadow Aria's attack divert away from me and form a surround the three of us. Shadow Aria shrieks again and backs away from us in apparent fear as a ring of spinning Persona cards materializes around me and a magic circle shines beneath my feet. Most of the cards are blank but two of them are marked with the pictures symbolizing the Fool and Lovers cards while two others, also filled in, must be the Justice and Chariot Arcanas. I raise my Evoker to my head and shoot it twice to summon Ara Mitama and Angel on either side of me. Their respective Arcana cards rise out of the ring and I raise my Evoker to point at each of them in turn.

"Ara Mitama… Angel…" A string of light connects the centers of the cards when they stop spinning. The cards then slam into each other in an explosion of light and leave a new card in their wake: the Magician Arcana. I smirk and take the card in my hand to feed it to the flame on my chest and raise my Evoker to my head once more.

"I am thou. Thou art I!" I recite. "From the sea of my soul, I summon thee! Come forth, Jack Frost!"

BANG!

The Evoker shot heralds a frigid wind that kills the flames of Shadow Aria's spell. Floating above me doing little flips in the air is a pudgy white figure that looks like the Pillsbury dough boy wearing a blue jester's hat and boots. Its black eyes are sharp and its cartoon-fanged mouth is pointed upwards in a grin.

"Hee-ho!" Jack Frost shouts gleefully. Shadow Aria shies away from us, terrified. Good. I scare it. Now to kill it!

"Bufu!" I command my new Persona. Jack Frost obeys and puts his little hands together, generating a ball of wintry energy in its hands before throwing it straight into Shadow Aria's chest. The ball freezes its chest on contact and Shadow Aria wails. I relentlessly order Jack to keep using that spell and with each hit, more and more of the Shadow's body is frozen. To my right, Henrietta forces herself to rise and summons Mandragora to use a Bufu of her own that finally knocks Shadow Aria down. The both of us launch a combined Bufu that flash freezes the nightmare into the black fountain, crushing it under her weight and leaving her open to an All-Out Attack.

"Go!"

The three of us rush in and I switch to Gawain before we lay into Shadow Aria with everything we have. The effigy of Henrietta's sister lays beaten on the ground twitching pathetically while Mandragora casts the final Bufu and sends it into oblivion. Shadow Aria is frozen in ice and Gawain and Eros shatter it with their blows.

We all breath a sigh of relief and flop over to watch our Personas collect the residual energy. It's done. Aria's safe and the Shadow's dead and it feels great to have power surging through me as I level up, though I can barely focus right now. Henrietta is the first of us to get up and she walks over to the destroyed fountain in the center of the area and saying something neither Jett or I can hear. The fountain rebuilds itself and its colors reverse to white and clear blue. The ground turns back to green and slowly, the flowers and plants start coming back to life and the sky clears up. She comes back to us smiling slightly before promptly falling over into Jett's arms. He grins tiredly at me and I reciprocate with a half-smile.

There's a certain…lightness in my heart as we carry Henrietta into the elevator and back up to the surface. I feel good for some reason. Maybe it's because I have Jack Frost now or because I got stronger but I think it's because I was able to keep my promise. Kinda feels like I lost the feeling and just now found it or something. I don't know. I'll figure everything out once I get some sleep. The one thing I know for sure is that I won't be come back to Rem for a while.

* * *

**Such a long chapter... Probably doesn't make up for my absence but I really hope it does. Now, I sleep. R&R.**


	10. Aftermath

**Persona Non Grata**

**By: **Brave Soul RMS

**Disclaimer: **Don't own the Persona series or anything from the Shin Megami Tensei franchise. I'm just a fanfic writer. I don't wanna get sued, 'kay?

* * *

**Chapter 009: **Aftermath

**Sunday, September 20th, 2020**

I have to admit, though I'm battered and bruised and more tired than I've ever been in my sixteen years of living, it feels sort of…nice to watch this. To know I made it happen. Sappy shit, I know, but, yeah. I still gotta talk to Igor about that fusing thingie I did when we fought Aria's Shadow but I think that can wait while I recuperate. Maybe forge a Social Link or two.

Or just go into a coma for a few months. Damn, I'm tired…

And I still hate hospitals. Why am I spending part of my Sunday here? …What're you looking at, you geriatric wreck? Rheumatoid arthritis ain't shit compared to a night fighting Shadows!

_**Behave yourself.**_

Shut up, Gawain. You're just as tired as I am.

_**Regardless.**_

_**You're so tense, Master Logan. You look like you could use a massage…**_

Pixie, I swear, if you look at that hot nurse's ass _one more goddamn time…!_

_**I'm not the one looking, Master Logan. You're the one in control.**_

Then stop influencing me, vile woman! Dammit, I miss Angel…

"Rietta, who're your friends?" Aria looked out the door smiling at me and Jett, who was soundly asleep slumped up against the nurse's station, and waved. Henrietta detached herself from her sister long enough to spare us peasants a passing glance and shook her head.

"I don't really know them all that well. They…" She hesitated and fished for an explanation under her mom's scrutinizing gaze. Henrietta sighed as if ashamed. "I was sort of…not myself at school. They saw it and decided to escort me here."

"How gentlemanly of them," giggled Aria. Aria looks like a wreck with those bags under her eyes like she hasn't slept – ironic considering she _was_ sleeping all this time – but she still manages to look cute. A lot cuter than her sister. Maybe cuz she actually smiles.

Dr. Mackenzie put an arm around her daughter's shoulders and pulled them into a tight hug. She obviously bought Henrietta's lie. "It's okay now, girls," she said barely above a whisper. "The nightmare's over. We can have Aria discharged at the end of the week," she said pulling away from the hug.

The nightmare's over. You have no idea how right you are, Dr. M. She left the room and her daughters to themselves and approached Jett and me. I shook him awake and he groggily lifted his head from the puddle of drool he made, wiping it off the side of his face. Dr. Mackenzie laughed and I noticed how much she looks like someone took Henrietta and added about twenty or thirty years.

Her hair's the same color and is down a little past her shoulders like Henrietta; her eyes are the same shade of brown; hell, their fair skin color and heights are damn near identical! Cherry on the cake, she's wearing a purple bandana the same way Henrietta wears her purple headband. Yep, just add a few years, add a few lines around her eyes and scale back the aging signs a bit and you've got Dr. Mackenzie.

"Listen," she said in a low voice. Then she paused and checked over her shoulder. Henrietta and Aria were completely absorbed in their conversation. "Good, I wouldn't want her hearing this and giving me an earful. So proud, that one."

"Henrietta you mean?" I asked. Jett mumbled her name incoherently and wiped the drool from his face. Then he looked at the desk and the front of his shirt and groaned.

"Damn it! This was my last clean shirt!"

"Moron."

Dr. Mackenzie gave a light laugh. "Anyway… I'd like to thank the two of you for keeping Rietta company while her sister was in the hospital. She's never really had too many friends because of, well, how she acts. To put it bluntly." She sighed as memories of the past doubtless resurfaced. Then she suddenly smiled at us and took our hands in hers.

"It's nice to see her socializing again."

In that moment, I couldn't help but feel something in regards to Henrietta. Sympathy, maybe? Or something else? Understanding? Whatever it was, seeing how much her mom cared about her and how well she got on with her big sister made me feel like I understood her a bit better. Then I realized something else; we're not so different.

We're both pretty much unknowns at school with no friends and only our families to fall back on. Families that love us like we love them and that we'd do anything to protect. Henrietta made that determination clear enough. Maybe she isn't so bad after all, insufferable smartass ice queen that she is. …I think I figured out that feeling I have towards her.

Kinship. We're a lot alike.

"Mom! Aria wants to talk to you!" Henrietta called. Dr. Mackenzie gave us one last nod of appreciation and went into the room. Jett looked at me with a goofy ear-to-ear grin and clapped my shoulder.

"We did something really good, man. You know that?"

I smiled a little. "Yeah… We did."

Henrietta said something to her family and exited the room closing the door behind her. She motioned Jett and me to follow her and led us to a back stairwell where nobody would be able to eavesdrop. After checking to see everything was all clear, she cleared her throat and did her best to look all professional.

"I never properly thanked you. Without you and your help, I'd never have saved my sister and probably would have ended up dead in there." She waited for a response but Jett and I just looked at each other and kept silent. She continued,

"And I want to apologize for how I acted. I'm usually much more…composed than I was and I realize I must have acted rudely towards you." Shifting uncomfortably and blushing a bit, she averted her gaze and mumbled under her breath but Jett and I still caught it.

"So… Sorry and…thanks." She's obviously never done this before.

"No problem, beautiful," Jett schmoozed in full flirt mode. "But if you really want to thank me, how's about you and I go out sometime?" Jett advanced and put a hand on her hip and under her chin. Face as red as tomato, Henrietta struck out, her hand meeting Jett's right cheek with a loud SMACK! That sent him reeling and Jett, ever the graceful one, fell flat on his ass and bounced down a few steps.

"Ugh!" she groaned in disgust. "You're such a creep!"

"Ow…" Jett whined, rubbing his ass. "That hurt, you know! And it's just one date!" Henrietta's pocketbook just missed his head.

"Like I care! We're in a hospital so while you're getting those injuries tended to, why don't you see if they'll give you a free brain scan on top of it?" she retorted.

"Why would I need a brain scan?" Jett shouted in response.

"There's obviously something wrong with your head if you haven't gotten it through your thick skull by now!" Cupping her hands around her mouth, she drew in a huge breath and screamed. "I will _never_ go out with you, Jett Mitchell!" Rather than deflate and give up, Jett only grinned and mimed shooting a gun at her.

"Challenge accepted!" he said.

"Wh-what?" Henrietta faltered, her face doing what I thought impossible and growing redder.

"Mark my words, Henrietta Mackenzie, we will go out on at least one date before the school year's over!"

"UGH!" Rounding on her heel to face me, Henrietta shouted while pointing behind her at my idiot partner. "Why is he so persistent?!"

I shrugged. "You got me. Honestly, you've only made this worse for yourself, Henrietta."

"Whatever, I give up," she sighed. "And it's Rietta," she added.

"Huh?"

"I prefer to go by Rietta," she explained. "I figured if I'm going to have a nickname, I'd rather that than 'Henri'." She made a face and another disgusted sound. "I hate that."

I looked at her oddly, my head tilted to one side as I thought. Was this maybe an offer of friendship? Well, fuck if I know but I guess… Couldn't hurt. They say birds of a feather flock together so I'll just go with the flow. I extended my hand and she took it silently, the slightest smile on her face.

"Okay," I murmured. "Nice to meet you, Rietta."

**SMASH!**

_I am thou… Thou art I…._

_Thou hast established a new bond… It brings thee closer to thine answer._

_Thou shalt have our blessing when creating a Persona of the Death Arcana._

How delightfully morbid. But a Social Link is a Social Link.

**SMASH!**

_Thou shalt have our blessing when creating a Persona of the Fool Arcana._

Double up! Nice! Huh, I should really be taking count of how many times that happens for each arcana. For now, it's rest time. Club Week starts tomorrow.

On the way home, I stopped by the Wild Duck Burger in the Bazaar because I was starving. Sometimes, I really have to wonder how this place passed a health inspection because I swear the burgers here aren't made from actual beef. But whatever. If I can kill extradimensional manifestations of human grief and anger, I can stomach a little mystery meat. And I did. My stomach didn't yell at me like it usually does after I eat this crap either so I actually feel a little braver now.

* * *

**Monday, September 21st, 2020

MORNING: St. Yung Academy**

I decided I was gonna skip out on Dr. Murray's stupid sessions today. Besides, I didn't really have much to talk about that wasn't Dark Hour-related. Aside from that, I should take stock of my Personae so far and our progress in Rem. Keep track of my Social Links, too, and how many times I've heard those voices congratulating me for not being antisocial. There are a few minutes before first period and the courtyard's not that crowded today so I revisited my favorite stone bench and took out a notebook.

Alright, in terms of Personas in my ol' head noggin, I have Gawain, my first and strongest at level 10 like me. All that fighting in Aria's dungeon skyrocketed our levels. So far, he can use Cleave, Tarukaja, Agi and a new skill he learned after we beat Aria's Shadow: Evil Touch. Creepy sounding name gets creepy looking attack; he goes up to a Shadow and passes his hand through it like a phantom and it utterly scares the shit out of them. Useful, since they're usually too frightened to attack after that.

After Gawain, we have Pixie at level five, who's been with me the longest next to Gawain. She currently only knows Zio, an electrical spell, Rakunda, a spell that drops the enemy's defense, and Dia so I don't use her much unless I need to heal. And lastly, Jack Frost at level eight, a Persona I fused with Angel and Ara Mitama. This guy's all kinds of useful: He came with Bufu and Sonic Punch and ended up inheriting Patra and Sukukaja from Angel. I was confused at first because Jack told me he didn't come with those skills but apparently, a Persona born from a fusion inherits skills from the Personas used to fuse it. Nifty. I should probably try and get a few new Personas while I'm at it.

Hm… While I'm at it, I should catalog Jett's skill, too. He's around level ten like me and Eros knows Bash, Garu, Dia and a new skill from our Shadow Aria battle called Holy Arrow. Does a good amount of damage and can charm the enemy, basically making them fall in love with him while actually following a few of his orders or just being too lovestruck to attack. Also nifty.

The sun peaked over the trees and the school buildings and shone in my eye. It's kind of a chilly misty day (we've been getting a lot of those lately) so it feels nice. Calming. Anyway, Social Links. If I remember right, I've formed links for the Fool, Emperor, Lovers and Magician Arcana with Death as a recent arrival. That's five. Those weird voices spoke up for me three times with Fool, once for Emperor and Death and twice for Lovers and Magician. I wonder if that means anything. Either way, I'll talk to Igor tonight. Won't be going into Rem for at least another night or two, though.

BRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIING!

There's the pre-bell ring. Better get going to class…

* * *

"So, to summarize the chapter we read last week: the body metabolizes food by breaking the chemical bonds that hold their molecules together. Most of your energy comes from sugar, which is broken down via glycolysis. From there, it enters what is known as the Citric Acid or Krebs cycle. From those bonds, via a chain of chemical reactions involving the shuttling of electrons, the generation of a hydrogen ion gradient and the utilization of said gradient to generate ATP, we get energy. Said energy is used to drive cellular work."

For the spineless dude dating one of my older sisters, Caper knows his stuff. That and I actually managed to bother to study after being in Rem.

"Now, let's see who did the reading last night…?" Mr. Caper scanned the room until his eyes fell on me. Oh joy. Well, at least I did my homework. "Logan! Photosynthesis was also in the chapter last night because plants use both it and the Krebs cycle to make and consume their own food, the waste products of which are used to start both cycles again. But for photosynthesis to start, you need three crucial components: Water, light, and…?"

"Uhm… I know this one… Carbon dioxide, right? And I think it's rubisco or PEP-C that grabs it out of the air depending on what kind of plant you are."

"Very good!" he praised me, grinning. "I see someone did their homework! But, yes, C-3 plants use rubisco to catch CO2 from the air, while CAM plants use PEP-C. PEP-C is much more efficient."

I heard some of the hardcore bio students around me whispering to themselves:

"Hey, that Logan kid. I thought he was kind of a slacker but that was a pretty tough question he answered."

"Not that tough but at least he takes this class seriously enough to do the work. I can respect that in a person."

Looks like I've gotten a bit more popular with them. That can only be good. …That _is_ good, right? Well, anyway. When lunchtime came around, I hung with Ethan while Jett went out pimpin'. We talked about a bunch of different stuff like what kind of TV shows we watched and our favorite foods (it's Ethan so I kind of expected that) and he even asked my opinion on a topic I'd never expect out of him.

"Hey, Logan."

"Mmm?" I answered through a mouthful of turkey club.

"What do you look for in a girl?" I nearly choked and had to wash it down with my Cielo Mist. Only when I finished coughing did I answer with my own stunned question.

"Excuse me?"

He laughed and polished off his desert cupcake. "It's a pretty straightforward question, dude. What do you look for in a girl? I'm talking looks, personality, the whole shebang." I shook my head a few times to chase the fog and confusion away. Nobody have ever asked me that kind of question before and, to be honest, I didn't really know the answer myself. It's not like I didn't think of girls in that way. It was more like I never really thought a girl would be interested in me in the first place. So I told Ethan that and he said,

"Don't sell yourself short. Even if you date one girl and figure out she's not for you, you shouldn't give up. And you should at least, y'know, try. It's better than standing there like a lump."

"Oh, thanks," I said dryly. "Now I'm a lump. That'll send the girls running…away from me, that is."

Ethan have me a good natured pat on the shoulder and handed me his second cupcake as a peace offering. I wanted to say I didn't need his sympathy and turn it away but, fuck, man, it's a chocolate cupcake. I ate that bad boy like it was my last meal and damn if it wasn't delicious. I gotta ask him where he gets this stuff.

"Think about it and get back to me," he said. I answered with a shrug and he went on, "As for me, looks don't really matter much but I wouldn't object if she were cute." He grinned again and put his hands behind his head, expression thoughtful. "If anything, I want a girl I can talk to, you know? Someone who'll hear me out and that I can hear out in turn and have a conversation with. Relationships are boring if you can't talk, y'know?"

I can understand that. I'm definitely no expert but I feel like if you're gonna be with a girl, it'd be good to have something in common with them. Ethan makes a lot of sense. We talked until lunch ended and I had to move on to English and he went on to chemistry class. My Social Link with him didn't advance but I feel like the two of us grew a bit closer to a new level of understanding. At least, that's what I think that ticklish feeling in the back of my mind was. Time will tell.

* * *

**AFTERSCHOOL**

Like Mr. Vechy's irritating voice announced last Friday, Club Week starts today and the athletic teams get first dibs. I'm not really much of an athlete but St. Yung's has an unusual selection of sports teams. There's your typical high school sports teams like football and baseball but I know we have a skateboarding club and an ultimate Frisbee club among them. That last one is kind of weird but the Skate Club would be cool. I used to skate a while back and got pretty good at it. That and I used to kickbox. Wonder why I stopped… Anyway, since I'm not much of a pro athlete, I think I'll keep clear of the typical sports team and check out the off-the-beaten-track ones. There are only three, though: Skate Club, Ultimate Frisbee (haha, okay) and Swordsmanship. We have a swords club, apparently.

Right after school ended, I went to the main office and I picked up one flier each about the three clubs that were accepting new members today, then went down the hallway directly across the lobby from it since that's where most of the club rooms were. At the end of that hallway was a double door that led to the outdoor cafeteria where the Skate Club was holding their sign-ups so I decided to head there first. It was a pretty overcast day and it looked like it was gonna rain but still, these guys were out here pulling all kinds of tricks off. It's really cool to watch and – whoa, hell! Did that guy just use his buddy's board as a launch point? Sick! I wanna learn to do that!

Rushing over to the sign-up sheet on one of the tables, I was stopped halfway there by a really big guy whose name I never bothered to learn skating over to me. Two of his friends approached a second later with one of them having grabbed the list and shoved it in my face.

"Sign-ups are closed," he drawled. "Take a hike."

"What?! But they just started five minutes ago!"

"Looks like you're five minutes too late, then, freak," the big guy said threateningly. I glared at them then took another glance at the list. There were only about seven or eight names on it and only five skaters present, three of them barring my path.

"There are only seven names here. Clubs have at least fourteen people," I countered. "How is that fair, you asshats?"

Big guy grabbed my collar and lifted me a few inches off the ground. My glare grew hotter but he just smirked, amused. This isn't funny, asshole! If you're gonna exclude someone, at least play by the damn rules!

The third and shortest skater there fiddled with his beanie and sneered, "Tony, ignore him; he ain't worth the trouble. We already got all our members. Plus, even if we were accepting more people, we wouldn't let our reps take damage from being seen with the school headcase."

Oh, fuck no. You did not just say that, midget. Tony put me down and shoved me a bit to get me to leave. Okay. I'll leave. But not before this. I kicked Tony's skateboard into my hand and grabbed it by the trucks.

"Hey, pipsqueak, give that back!" roared Tony as he pulled a fist back.

"You know what?" I growled as he swung. "You should really learn," I lifted the board up in front of my face and Tony's fist hit it square in the center snapping it right in half, "to watch what you say, midget!"

I took one half of the board in my left hand and used it to smack the short one in the ribs and threw the other half hard at Tony's stomach, winding him. He doubled over howling in rage and surprise and his other friend cursed, lamenting the loss of what was apparently a very expensive deck. The midget was on the ground holding his side and biting his lip, face scrunched up like he had appendicitis. Thoroughly pissed, I spat at the ground in front of them and waltzed towards the door leaving them in stunned, angry silence.

"You'll pay for this!" the midget screamed at me. "When you least expect it, ya fuckin' psycho, I'll get you back for this!"

"Whatever, asshole!" I shouted back. As soon as I was back inside, I slumped and slid down against the door with my hand against my forehead.

"Jackasses didn't even bother to follow the rules. There should be at least seven other names on that list before they can say they're full!" I slammed my fist against the floor. "FUCK! This is why I..!" I sighed. Not worth it to get worked up over crap like this. Especially not this worked up. Compose yourself, Logan.

Picking myself up, I took the folded up fliers out of my pocket and tore up the Skate Club one and the Ultimate Frisbee one. Stupid game shouldn't even be considered a sport. But now that I'm 0 for 2, that leaves me one option.

The Swordsmanship Club apparently meets in the auxiliary gym every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. According to the flier, "It's not about learning to fight, it's about learning the different philosophies behind swords styles and the discipline required to properly wield a blade". There were a few snippets and quotes from current and former members about how joining the club helped them get their acts together and even improved their study or work habits by applying the sword style philosophies to daily life. Seems legit.

"Well why the fuck not?" Not like I've got much choice now. The spare gym should be in the hall above this one to the right. A short walk later, I found myself in front of the double doors looking through the portholes at the people in there. There looked to be an equal number of chicks and dudes from every grade, most of them sparring with wooden swords. There were even a few real swords in the display case at the back; shit, are we allowed to keep those? That's actually kind of cool…

I put my hand on the door to push it open but found myself hesitating. "There's more people here than there were outside," I muttered to myself. My fist clenched on its own. I felt apprehensive and a little angry. What if these guys didn't want me to join either? Then I'm really shit out of luck and I go home with my tail between my legs and a bruised ego.

"I really don't want that…" But again, it's not like I've got much choice. Well, if I go down, I go down swingin'. I opened the door and walked through, getting a better view of the room. The floor and walls were padded with blue and red alternating rectangles and it was actually pretty big. There was a school desk in the corner across from me and the far right wall was a line of lockers. Posted above and inside the display case were pictures of the club members from every year since '04. It's not much bit it's cozy.

"Yo!" I guess that was meant for me since nobody else is answering. A girl (I think it's a girl from the voice) in full kendo gear walked over to me and took off her helmet. She's really pretty: heart-shaped face, dark brown hair and almond-shaped eyes and light brown skin make me think she's some kind of Hispanic but I don't judge. Really friendly smile, too.

"I'm Rosita Cortez," she said as she shook my hand. "You are?"

"Logan Martin."

"Nice to meet you, Logan. You here to sign up?" Then before I could affirm that, she continued, "Our club leader's not here right now; he went to go grab a snack. Once he's here, though, he'll explain things and you can decide to join up or not." Rosita flashed me a bright smile and I felt some of my tension leave me.

Taking a quick look around, I was pretty much able to discern for myself what this whole thing was about. Plus, I have a flier. I asked her what there was to explain and she giggled and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, most of us are like that since it's more or less self-explanatory but Leader always has to explain the details to us. It's good to have a reminder so we're not all just swinging swords," she mimed stabbing and parrying a blow, "but yeah."

"I see."

"What kind of sword and style do you use?" she asked curiously, tilting her head. "I use a katana and the Itto-ryu style myself. Or are you a newbie?"

"A newbie," I answered and as I scratched the back of my head, I added, "And I'm not sure what you're talking about with sword styles. At least not the Japanese ones." She giggled.

"It's okay, not many people do. There are a ton of styles from all over the world so it'd be, like, impossible to know or master them all. Oh, look, Leader's back!"

I turned and, to my surprise, Grey stood at the entrance to the gym, halfway through the door with a soft pretzel hanging from his mouth and sword wrapped in cloth slung over his right shoulder. Gulping down his most recent bite of pretzel, he approached Rosita and I and looked between the two of us.

"Logan, right? You're in my history class," he said.

"Biology, too. What's up? You run this place?"

He shrugged and smiled a bit. "More or less."

"What style are you?"

"Leader uses his own style," Rosita said teasingly. Grey nodded.

"A mix of Historical European style, fencing and some tricks taken from the various Japanese styles," he elaborated. "Each of 'em was a bit too rigid for me, y'know?"

"Hey, Leader!" one of the upperclassmen called from the lockers. "We gonna get this show on the road now or what?"

"Right, in a sec!" Then he said to me, "Stick around and see if you're interested." So I did while he got up in front of the display case and gave a speech introducing himself, welcoming new members and welcoming back some of the old and talking about what a big honor it was being chosen as leader by the previous one. Guess the last leader was a senior seeing as they're not here now. Then he launched into an explanation about the club and exactly what it stood for. I have to admit, I zoned out for most of it but this part had my attention.

"You newbies might think this place is just a club where we swing swords all day but it's more than that!" A few of the freshman jumped. "Along with me, there are four other upperclassmen who're pretty damn good at their own style. Whoever you study under will teach you all about the philosophy of their style and train you in its discipline. You can switch styles whenever ya want, doesn't really matter to us, but the point of all this is so that you learn something that'll benefit you. Trust me, if you apply some of the stuff you learn here to your normal lives, I can guarantee you'll see some kind of improvement in confidence, study habits, whatever." Then he grinned and unsheathed the sword on his back. It wasn't sharpened (thank God, I was afraid he'd hurt someone.) but he nonetheless pointed it at the crowd and said,

"Lastly, this is a place to chill and make friends, so do just that. Just make sure you don't slack off in here else you'll be facing me one on one!"

"Trust me, you don't want that," laughed Rosita.

"So yeah! If you're interested, the sign up sheet's over by that table," he pointed at it with his sword and put it back in its sheath, "and there's pizza on the way so at least stick around for that." And with that, the members and prospective members dispersed to go talk amongst themselves. Grey and Rosita approached me soon after and again I was reminded of exactly how tall he is. I'm 5'8" myself but Jesus Christ! He tops me by at most five inches! Oh, well, at least I'm taller than Rosita.

"What'd ya think?" he asked.

"It was a pretty good speech," I answered slowly, "and I guess I can give this a try and see if what you said about it improving my diligence is true. So yeah, I guess I'm in." He and Rosita positively beamed at that.

"Sweet!" cheered Grey.

"It'll be nice having another junior in here," Rosita added. Grey offered his hand and I shook it without hesitation.

"Nice to have you on board!" he said. I nodded, smiling slightly. I think, after hearing that speech, I know a little bit more about what Grey's all about. The fact that he doesn't follow one particular style told me more than the speech but, hey, I'm learning.

**SMASH!**

And apparently, I'm making friends, too.

_Thou shalt have our blessing when creating a Persona of the Emperor Arcana._

That makes twice I've heard the mysterious voices blessing me. That can only be good!

I decided to hang around the club a little more often while Grey helped me pick out a sword and style. Historical European was the easiest, at least according to him, and I was a beginner at this so it wouldn't hurt to start there. After swinging a wooden blade around a few times and sparring with him (AKA getting my ass kicked), club ended and we all went home. I did a little homework, studied some and generally played video games and watched TV before going to sleep. Before I did that, though, I sent a message to Jett and Rietta telling them to meet up at Rem's entrance tomorrow. I figure two or three times a week is sufficient enough for us to start making some more progress in there.

* * *

**Teusday, September 22nd, 2020**

**DARK HOUR**

_~You're making good progress. The elevator to floor ten should be coming up~ _Theo announced while we ran through the city streets. Nobody had leveled up yet but we were becoming a lot more familiar with our Personas and how to battle.

"How much longer to the next floor?" asked Jett.

_~From what I can tell, there should be a station on the tenth floor that should lead you down to the next half of this block. Be wary, however, for the Shadows get stronger as you move further down~_

"Typical. It's like an RPG," Rietta mused. "The stronger you get, the stronger the enemies get."

A Shadow Blob materialized in the shadow of a building and threw itself at us. We all dodged and Rietta managed to stab it, initiating the battle and giving us the advantage. The blob split into two pairs of Shadows: one type was basically a fish made of so many twisted wires and pipe cleaners while the other was a pair of twins skewered on two rods shuffling around like zombies. The fish wore a Priestess mask while the twins were of an Arcana I haven't seen.

_~The fish and twins are Priestess and Hierophant Arcana respectively~ _Thank you, Theodore. _~Give me a moment to analyze them~_

Immediately, the Shadows struck out and threw themselves into the fight. As both twins started to build up sparks of electricity around their rods, one of the fish rushed, spun and lashed Rietta with its tail. Then the twins targeted me and Jett and loosed easily dodged Zio spells at us but the other fish chose to run down Jett and freakin' headbutted him in the chest.

"Ugh! Ow!" Growling, the leapt at it as it tried to backpedal and buried the blades of his chakram in its fins "Bitch, that hurt!" he scowled but the fish seemed to feel no sort of pain. The fish thrashed and threw Jett off of it and into the air. He landed gracefully next to Rietta and me muttering in annoyance.

"No dice. Physical strikes don't do much."

"That's fine, we can always just hit the twins," I said. "Surround 'em!" Jett and Rietta circled around while I drew my Evoker and switched to Jack Frost. "Let's give this guy a little piece of the action!"

Cackling like a demon, the spirit of winter appeared in a flurry of ice and snow that it formed into a Bufu spell and launched at the fish, which Theodore told us were called Calm Pesce. The one that attacked Jett was struck and reeled from the impact allowing me to charge in and give it a good one-two punch. Jett was right; it felt like I was punching a wall but Jack's Bufu did damage enough to let me destroy it with my hits.

"Eros!" BANG! I heard a rush of wind as Jett cast his Garu on the remaining Pesce and sent it tumbling to the ground. "Found your weakness!" he sang triumphantly and cast another wind spell to finish it off. That leaves the twins. A sound like a small thunderclap rang out when one of the twins nailed Jett with a Zio spell and brought him to its knees then took the chance to charge in and swing the left twin around to kick him in the face. As he went tumbling, Rietta slashed at it with her spear while dodging a second lightning attack and running it through. Unfortunately, it wasn't dead yet.

"Gawain!" I cried and summoned him to slice the other pair in two while Rietta engaged the first. His Cleave went straight through the rods holding them together and like that, they exploded into nothing. Sweet, I just learned an instant kill tactic! The remaining twin raked at Rietta with its claws and she squealed in pain!

"Ooh, I've had just about enough of you!" She pressed her Evoker to her temple and fired. "Mandragora!" The flower pixie rose (heheh, rose. I crack myself up) and sent a debilitating glare the twins' way that somehow encased them in ice. I summoned Jack Frost to shatter it with a Sonic Punch and send the Shadow to its death.

_**SHUFFLE TIME!**_

Hells yeah. Let's see; a coin, a sword and a new Persona card. An elegant blue-skinned woman in white in a dancing pose. Obviously I'm gonna go for the Persona card and… Yes, got it! The card shattered and formed into the woman on the card who introduced herself in the most polite way I could think of.

"**Pleased to make your acquaintance. I am Apsaras of Temperance and I look forward to working with you."**

"Likewise," I told her before she joined the freak convention in my head.

"Hey, what's with that, anyway?" Rietta asked more than a bit suspiciously. "You have more than one Persona while Jett and I only get one. How's that fair?"

I shrugged. "You got me. It's just something unique to me that I never really bothered to question. Useful as all hell though," I added with a smirk.

"Hey," Jett spoke up as he cast Dia on himself, "if he's got a power than can keep us alive in this place, I won't question it. Never look a gift horse in the mouth."

Rietta snorted and shouldered her spear. "I'm surprised you know what that expression means."

"Now, now, ladies, you're both pretty."

"Damn right I am!" Jett shouted. That idiot always knows how to amuse me. "But, yeah, let's keep on going."

There were a few more Shadows to kill on our way to the elevator but it wasn't anything we couldn't handle. Rietta jumped up a level and learned Pixie's Rakunda spell which is always useful since I'm planning on ditching Pixie first chance I get.

"**Hey! So cruel!"**

I've already got raging hormones; don't need you stirring the pot, woman. Anyway, the elevator was reached in good time and dropped us off in front of a huge door standing in the center of a purple room that stretched on forever and was lit entirely by a rainbow of starlight. Other than that, it was entirely empty.

"Theodore, where are we?"

_~In a Waypoint, Miss Henrietta. That door in the center leads to the station that will take you to this block's lower level~_

"Is there some kind of symbolism behind it?" I asked as the stars' light moved all around sometimes overlapping and creating new colors. "I feel like there is."

_~None that I can see but I've never really been one to try and analyze symbolism… Wait, I feel something's coming! A floor guardian!~_

Right on cue, the door opened slowly without so much as a creaking hinge and flooded the room with blinding light. We all shielded our eyes and heard it slam shut an instant later and then something started walking towards us. Standing a good twenty feet away was by far the weirdest Shadow I've ever seen and that is saying a lot. It was dancing couple but they were headless and conjoined at the hands and in the hand pointed at us was one wicked sharp rapier. On closer inspection, I saw that they actually _shared_ a head, a big white heart-shaped one with a Lovers Arcana mask. The male half of this Shadow wore blue pants and a white coattailed tux while the girl wore a red evening gown. They were both around seven or eight feet tall and swayed to the beat of an unheard song while their head hummed eerily in the silence.

"Dude, freaky." Jett shares my view on this.

"I don't know; it's kind of sweet." He and I gave Rietta the best "What the fuck" looks we could and she blushed in embarrassment. "I mean… Oh, shut up! It's my own opinion."

"Well, sweet or not," I said dropping into a ready stance, "we need to kill it if we're moving on."

The Shadow accepted our challenged and literally waltzed its way over to us rapier at the ready. Rietta grabbed her Evoker and Jett grasped his chakram tightly. Now begins a real fight.

* * *

**Tuesday, September 22nd, 2020**

**DARK HOUR**

The boy's eyes snapped open as if he awoke suddenly from a nightmare. At once, the sensation of falling overtook him and his feet roughly touched the ground a second later. Stumbling forward, the young man caught himself by using the sword in his left hand as a cane.

"Wh-what the…?" His eyes darted around confusedly trying to take in the surroundings while his brain fought to clear the haze that suffocated it. Where was he? What time was it? The last thing he remembered was... He actually couldn't remember but, either way, he know he should have been halfway home by now.

He _was_ halfway home. The boy knew this street; he walked it every time he went out to the Bazaar and used it as a shortcut all the time. It was the street one came to after crossing the hospital back parking lot, the same as it always was every day so then… Why was everything so dark? So sickly green?

"What happened to the world…? Am I…dead?" the boy breathed, both awestruck and terrified at the disturbing, morbid veil that lay over the world now.

The sun, now blood red, hovered directly overhead like the face of an angry god; the sky was lime ground beneath his feet was nearly black. Puddles of what the young man was sure were water were now bright red pools of blood but none of this compared to the dozens – the hundreds upon hundreds of obsidian coffins standing upright and floating just above the ground, scattered as if thrown by the hand of a child.

"Wait. I remember this. Ten years ago…" Yes, that was right. He had seen this side of the world before. Ten years ago it had disappeared but now it was back. But why? Then, as if someone took a sledgehammer to his skull, a splitting headache bloomed from the center of the boy's mind and tore his skull apart. The throbbing pain climaxed and plateaued moments later as something stirred.

"**Release me…"**

Rattling and the sound of breaking chains echoed within the young man's mind and a curtain of darkness shadowed his vision. The only light he saw was but a faint blue glow under his feet. Then as if the ground was pulled out from under him, he fell and was thrown against the surface of a water source. Descending, the boy flailed and kicked wildly swimming for the surface before realizing he could still see and breathe. He looked around until something caught his eye directly under him. Submerged at the bottom of the torrential whirlpool of sadness and memory within the sea of his soul, a bestial silhouette lay fettered until, with a great effort, the creature shattered his bindings and the chains snapped and broke one after the other. With his left side free at last, Lycaon rose to its full, terrible height and celebrated with a roar that agitated the water and flung the boy up and out.

Releasing the vicegrip he had on his head, the young man staggered to his feet, hand over his right eye as he found himself back in the real world.

"What just happened to me…?" He shuffled over to a nearby blood puddle and collapsed on his hands and knees in front of it. There he stared at his reflection. He was a little pale from what he could tell. He pushed back his wild dark hair to search his face for injuries but found none. A ripple pulsed through the pool and suddenly it wasn't his bemused face looking up at him anymore, only inky blackness. A sinister green eye snapped open in the center of the puddle and stared right into his own. The boy recoiled and scuttled away, trembling.

"What the hell?!"

Suddenly there came a screech lancing through the stagnant air and something began to take form at end of the street. A creature like he'd never seen before stood there; tall, gangly and skulking with three-spoke wheels made of human legs and large spikes in place of actual limbs. Its face was a yellow mask devoid of emotion and when it took notice of him it screamed a bloodcurdling cry and charged.

They boy's eyes shrank to pinpricks and he drew his sword to defend himself. "GET AWAY!" he cried desperately. He froze, screwing his eyes shut and preparing for the worst.

There was a roar.

The ring of metal cutting through flesh.

Rattling chains.

The young man dared to open his eyes and lower his arms from his face and what he saw threw his mind into disarray with the sheer impossibility of it. No matter how he tried to deny its existence, there, floating before him fully extended with a silver chain wound around it, was colossal armored arm ending swordlike claws, all five of which impaled the monster's torso. With a last weak shriek, the monster started melting, fading into oblivion.

Globs of ichor flew with a sickening squelch when the arm violently flexed its fingers to free them from the corpse. It hung there for a moment before eventually fading away and the more transparent it became, the more the boy's headache returned with a vengeance.

"**Not enough!"** snarled his inner voice.

His headache flared again eliciting a scream of anguish from his throat. His attempts to stay conscious were thwarted by his growing migraine until his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell on the sidewalk at the feet of a black coffin, the last thing he heard before blacking out his inner voice snarling venomously, expectantly,

"**Soon, Grey…"**

"Ly…" The world grew black and Grey Thomas knew no more.

* * *

**a**** look at what's to come.**

_The Fool's party does battle against the Enamoured Dancer but little headway is made. Deciding to reture, they return to the surface and cease operations for the night, only to find the Emperor alone and vulnerable in the hour of shadows. Suddenly, he awakens and unleashes a terrifying wave of emotion that drowns the other three, inundating them with a powerful hidden anguish. What will come of this, and has the Emperor become their enemy?_

_Next Time: To Wake a Sleeping Dog_


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